


All Bad Things

by jojosiewa



Series: MCYT Short Stories [19]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), The Crafting Dead
Genre: Cannibalism, Cheating, Cryptids, Denial, F/F, Found Family, Government Conspiracy, Government Experimentation, M/M, Nightmares, Past Rape/Non-con, Pining, Romance, THIS ONES MORE GOREy, Team as Family, Trans Male Character, cryptid AU, im so fucking tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 36,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22784335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojosiewa/pseuds/jojosiewa
Summary: STORY 6/6...must also come to an end, in a sense, but not without hard work.
Relationships: Ghetto/Nick (Crafting Dead), Gray/Xavier, Shark/OC, Shelby/Jess, Sky/Barney
Series: MCYT Short Stories [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1192948
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	All Bad Things

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote half of this this weekend do not speak to me for a month

“What the fuck did I tell you!”

“I swear to god I never saw the guy in person, he just showed up in my brother’s... friend’s apartment totally unprovoked, like something out of a fucking nightmare!”

Jin sighed. “Sounds like Ross,” he mumbled, subconsciously pressing his foot harder on the accelerator. “You’re at Seaport, so, are you coming to the mainland? I think you should, that island seems like a death trap right now.”

“Are you fucking— driving? I just heard someone honk. Don’t call and drive idiot! Also how do you know where I am?”

“Shelby, you told me you were going there. I pay attention to my friend, see, just in case something like this ever happens.” Jin paused, and sighed. “Considering how we met in the first place.”

In Cory’s apartment, Shelby cocked her head to the side and nodded. “Alright, touche, but to be honest I just set up location services on your phone. Just in case you get kidnapped again.”

“Wait what— HEY—”

“Maybe we should leave this place, I remember Nick’s pal talking about Red having a main base in Atlanta,” she said.

“Got it. I’m glad you found your brother, by the way. I’m gonna call some friends, they can help.” Jin hung up, and Shelby shoved her phone in her back pocket and looked back towards Nick. He was on the bed, a blanket draped over him, Yoti and tiger Jordan by his side. He was shaking, and had only spoken a few half-words over the phone. His eyes were red and glassy and he couldn’t level his breathing. Shelby and Ghetto got to calling.

Nick had also been half dressed when they first walked in, but Shelby didn’t think it was the best time to bring that up, despite how nervous it made her.

Ghetto was pacing back and forth, grumbling to himself as he waited for someone to pick up the damn phone.

“Ghetto?” Shark’s unsure-sounding voice asked, and Ghetto sighed.

“Shark, put Annie on,” Ghetto demanded, and Shark yelped.

“She’s on her way, what’s up man?” Shark asked, watching Annie walk over. “Why are you calling her and not me?”

The phone was snatched from his hand, and AK nudged Shark away. “And why not me, dipshit?” AK hissed. “We’re in the middle of training.”

“Training for wh— whatever. Annie’s the only responsible one idiot, give her the phone, I need to warn you guys about something, maybe ask for your help, since Annie was good at... finding a person.” Annie jumped up and took the phone away from AK.

“Hey Ghetto, I’m putting you on speaker, this won’t get done otherwise,” Annie said, setting the phone on Shark’s desk.

“Fine, that’s fine. It’s about Red.”

“I’m out,” Shark said, holding his hands up. Annie whacked his shoulder.

“I didn’t finish, fuckhead! Sorry Jordan. Anyway, Red and this other guy, a mad scientist, Ross, kidnapped my friend’s boyfriend and we’re aiming to, y’know, get him back? If you could help us out, that would be nice,” Ghetto explained, and Shark frowned.

“I don’t think she should—”

“I’m in,” Annie declared, and Shark stuttered.

“Ann, I’m not sure about this,” he whispered, and AK gave a slight nod. Annie glared at both of them, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Chickens,” she said, and AK’s face flushed, ego sufficiently damaged.

“Am not! I’m in too!” he shouted. Shark put his head in his hands and groaned.

“I’m taking that as a yes for you too, Shark. I remember your address, we’re gonna head over there, we’re in Seaport now so it’ll take a few hours. Thanks man, bye.”

“No... problem,” Shark sighed, sitting at his desk and putting his head down. Annie patted his back.

——

 _Nick. Nick, you need to come back, we’re leaving. Nick. I packed for you, all you have to do is walk. Or you can ride on my back, like old times._ Yoti whined and hung his head, nudging Nick’s hand with his snout. _Come back, just enough to get to the car._

“What’s the matter, Yoti?” Ghetto asked, petting Yoti’s head. Jordan hopped down and turned back to human form.

“He’s trying to talk to Nick. Dad,” Jordan whispered, pulling Ghetto aside. “I think Cory did something bad. He wasn’t like this before.”

Ghetto winced. “Cory was kidnapped, of course Nick doesn’t seem right at the moment. We can’t go around accusing—”

“I don’t like Cory, don’t like the way he talked to Nick, I heard him over the phone, in the background. I don’t like him,” Jordan hissed, ears flattening.

“Shhh, hey, Nick’s really not in the position to hear that right now, okay?” Ghetto said, and Jordan looked down, tail flicking. “We have to be careful right now. Calm, and mature. Everything will get figured out, trust me tiger.”

“Alright.” Jordan leaned on Ghetto, and the shapeshifter hugged his kid.

“Let’s go,” a voice said, barely a whisper. Everyone whipped around and looked at Nick, who stood up. “Let’s just go.”

“Nick,” Shelby began, and Nick shook his head. She slumped her shoulders as Yoti gave Nick his backpack and led him outside. Jordan looked away, wondering if Nick had heard what he said.

——

The lake froze over in winter. It was still thin enough so that when Uni stepped on it he heard the cracks, saw them splintering out from underneath his foot. He wanted to fish.

“Uni, you should come inside, Maya’s made all kinds of delicacies for the kids,” Luciano said, a few steps behind him. “My old friend—”

“Why do you always talk like you’re holding a bottle of champagne and wearing a tux and addressing a party you’re hosting, it’s infuriating. Your life is in danger for the first time since your son’s magical car crash, act like it,” Uni spat, picking up a rock and hurling it far out onto the ice. “Especially since this is your bloody fault.”

“You always get angry when you come out here,” Luciano said, motioning to the dock. “Not good for the heart, y’know, since you’re getting old and all.”

“I’m gonna punch you silly.”

“You’ve tried. Come inside, standing out here doesn’t do you much good. Say hi to my family, Maya’s worried about you, for whatever reason,” Luciano offered, patting Uni on the back. “That enemy of yours, the one you’re thinking about, he’s long gone. There’s no one on that dock, and nothing in the water but an old knife gathering algae.”

“An old knife, huh,” Uni mumbled. He looked back at Luciano and nodded towards the house. “Let’s go, I’ll—”

He was interrupted by his ring tone. He fished his phone out of the pocket of his vest and answered. “Jin?”

“I remember that boy,” Luciano said, tilting his head towards the phone to listen in.

“Uni, it’s Ross, apparently he’s working with a cryptid named Red,” Uni and Luciano exchanged glances, wide eyed, “who happens to be very powerful himself, and—”

“I know about Red,” Uni growled, and Luciano stepped back towards the house.

“They kidnapped someone. Someone close to my friend’s brother, it’s a big deal and probably a trap to lure my friend and her group in and kill them but if we gather everyone, I mean... two— well, three birds with one stone,” Jin said.

“Three birds with one stone,” Uni repeated. “I know the angel. The angel Ross took the feather from, he’s here now, along with his whole family.” He put his phone to his chest. “Luciano, would they help?”

“Death makes Maya nervous but the kids, uh, might?” Luciano shrugged. Uni sighed and moved his phone back to his ear.

“It’s a maybe.”

“Great? Keep me updated, I’ll call Xave,” Jin said. Uni raised an eyebrow.

“Do you know where they are?”

“No, and I’m not sure I want to know,” Jin mumbled. “See you.”

“I’ll find them. See you.” Uni returned his phone to his pocket. “Luci, it’s Red. I never saw the guy’s face the day I turned, did you?” Luciano shook his head. “Let’s go.”

The two sprinted back towards the house, heavy breaths making clouds in the cold air.

——

“Found it! I knew I had a shit ton of movies up here!” Gray set down a cardboard box filled with DVDs. Xavier leaned over and took a look inside as Gray sat next to him on the couch.

“Oh, Scooby Doo! I loved Scooby Doo when I was younger,” Xavier said, wiping the dust off a Scooby Doo movie. “Look at that.” He glanced at Gray, who was rubbing his hands together and looking away, grin gone, eyes glazed over with grief. Xavier winced and dropped the movie back in the box. “Oh look, I see Rocky, that’s what you wanted to—”

“Xavier,” Gray sighed, hand on Xavier’s back. “I’m okay.”

“You don’t seem to want to talk about it,” Xavier said, and Gray kissed him on the cheek.

“We can talk about it,” he offered, and Xavier hummed, unsure. “I’m serious, we can talk about it, if I can talk about it with my ex-husband I can talk about it with you. Just,” Gray raised his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck, “can we watch Rocky when we’re done talking about it.”

Xavier scoffed. “Yes, we can watch Rocky when we’re done talking about it.” He held out his arms. “So.”

Gray looked from side to side. “So.”

There were a few moments of silence as Gray bit his nails and Xavier rubbed circles onto his palm with his thumb, one too sad to speak, one too afraid. Eventually, Xavier took a deep breath and slumped his shoulders.

“Your son—”

As if on cue, Xavier’s phone began to ring. Gray cleared his throat loudly and stood up. “Better answer that,” he said abruptly, and Xavier nodded, almost relieved. The Professor answered the phone as the Major walked away and put his head in his hands, cursing himself rather violently in whispers once he was out of earshot. “He’s your boyfriend you fucking— fuck. Fuck. He just wants to comfort you, Gray, come on, he’s trying to help you because you brought him to a place that almost exclusively consists of memories of—” He gripped his hair. “I mean what did I fucking expect, he’s Xavier, he cares, and— I brought him here because he deserves to be let in and all that shit. Why did I dump all the kid’s stuff here, I’m so shit at grieving, that was a bad plan, a bad bad plan.”

Gray jumped when a picture fell off the wall and landed face down on the carpet with a dulled thump. Gray sighed and walked over, picking the picture up and putting it back. It was one of him and his boy, back when they were younger, when his boy was alive.

“Gray!” Xavier ran into the hallway and grabbed Gray’s arm, the other one holding the phone. “Gray, it’s about Ross, he’s working with someone else, someone dangerous.”

“Red, a really powerful cryptid, we were thinking you two and Uni would know what he is,” Jin said over speakerphone. “And we were thinking this is a good time to take them both down and rescue someone they captured in the meantime. Or the other way around might be a little better to say.”

“Just us? We’ve kind of tried that,” Gray said, and Xavier shook his head.

“There are more people willing to help,” Jin said. Gray’s eyes narrowed.

“How many?”

——

“There are fifteen of us?” Shark asked.

“Seventeen, there’s Jordan and a talking dog,” Annie corrected.

“I’m gonna have a stroke.” Shark laid down on the couch and covered his face with a pillow. Annie lifted his legs so she could sit next to him.

“Two CDC scientists, two military men who also happen to be werewolves, wow, they’ve got a lot of people,” AK said as he scrolled through the group chat. He squinted. “Oh, no way. Luciano Cielo? Jesus Christ, that guy again.”

“That name sounds familiar,” Shark mumbled. Annie nodded.

“He was a business tycoon in New York, got exposed a few years back, ran and hid and left his wife and daughter with the business. They fixed it up,” she explained.

“He’s an immortal,” AK mumbled, and Shark shot up.

“Wait, like you?”

AK sighed. “No, not like me. Not as cool. He—”

They were interrupted by a knock at their door. AK rolled his eyes and waved his hand, swinging it open. A boy ran in first, arms wide open. “Auntie Annie, Uncle Shark!” Jordan exclaimed, and Annie grinned. She and Shark stood up and each gave Jordan a hug. Then Jordan went to AK and gave him a quick embrace as well.

“Hey kid,” AK mumbled, patting Jordan awkwardly on the head.

“I missed you guys so much, you should meet my new friends so that you can all be friends for the mission!” Jordan said, and Ghetto walked in, placing a calming hand on Jordan’s shoulder.

“Shark, Annie, AK. Been a while since the whole,” he quickly shapeshifted into Shark, “don’t throw me against the wall, wait please!”

Shark crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, and Ghetto mocked him. Shark grunted and cocked his head, sending water out from a cup on the counter and right onto the side of Ghetto’s head. “Oh crap,” Ghetto said, shapeshifting back. “Hey! And wait, since when could you do that!”

“Since, like, right after you left,” Shark stuttered, shrugging. “I gave my parents a call, turns out I can control water, my parents are both elementals!”

“You got water? I got earth,” Shelby said, walking inside and holding out a hand. AK took one look at the katana in her other hand and took some subtle steps back. “Shelby Lynx.”

“Shark Anderson.” Shark shook her hand, irked by the force of her grip. “Nice to meet you. This is Annie Bykov, my girlfriend.”

“I got nothing,” Annie added, grinning and shaking Shelby’s hand. “Human.”

“From what I’ve heard you found Jordan, in the kidnapping mission,” Shelby said, and Annie scoffed.

“A misunderstanding on AK’s part, no harm was meant to be done. He’s the weirdo standing over there. He doesn’t like your long pointy sword because he thinks you’re gonna off him,” Annie said, and AK stepped back.

“Just keep it away from my neck, kid.”

“Then don’t make me angry.” Shelby looked at Ghetto. “Where are Nick and Yoti?”

——

The car was cold, but Cory’s hoodie still held some warmth from the dryer, and Nick had his legs curled to his chest with his hood up and covering most of his face. He felt better, cleaner, since his shower back at his apartment. He had time on the boat and in the car to process. He hadn’t left Seaport in two years, and it felt weird to just up and leave like he did. Two years worth of hiding, compromised. There was a risk with him being back here, a risk he didn’t even want to think about. He had other things to worry about, present things, like Red and Ross and—

Nick shivered and pulled his legs closer. “I miss Cory,” he whispered, and Yoti perked up.

 _I understand. Everyone is trying their best to help. It’s on your phone, if you’d like to take a look. Fifteen others, six right up there in that apartment, getting ready,_ Yoti reassured. Nick sniffled and wiped his eyes.

“And if they get hurt? Killed?”

 _That’s not on you, that’s on Red and Ross. What matters is they heard your call, and they’re willing to help, even if they are searching for some other gratification,_ Yoti said.

“You mean even if they just want Red and Ross dead,” Nick said. Yoti nodded.

 _It wouldn’t be a particularly awful thing, would it?_ There was a pause as Nick went quiet and stared through the window. Yoti’s ears lowered. _I apologize. I got ahead of myself there. Forgive me if I’m a bit angry about what those two did to you._

“Yeah, what those two did,” Nick whispered, picking at a hangnail. Yoti huffed.

 _There is something on your mind. Something you’re not telling me. You do as you please, but just know, I’m here. I’ve been here,_ he urged. _I was trained by your parents to help you, and I hate to see you this way._

“I just want this all to be over with, I just want— Cory back,” Nick said, and Yoti leaned his head on Nick.

_Oh, my dear child._

Nick’s phone buzzed, and Yoti flipped it over. _A message, from the Major, one of the ones helping us. He’s offered housing in the woods in Georgia, not very far from that prison Cory mentioned a while ago,_ Yoti said, and Nick picked up his phone and took a look. _That’s quite far._

“How far?” Nick asked, and Yoti scoffed.

_We’re in Massachusetts, Georgia is down south, that’s around a 17 hour drive. Certainly a long way._

“17 hours,” Nick groaned.

Yoti nudged Nick towards the car door. _Better stretch your legs._

“Fine.”

——

An expensive car, a Mercedes, pulled up to the cabin and parked next to Gray’s old Jeep. It was the early hours of the morning, still dark out, and the surrounding woods were alive with odd noises that woods tended to have; chitters and hoots and cricket songs.

“Why didn’t we just teleport there again?” Sky mumbled, eyes drooping. Barney was sleeping and leaning on Sky, snoring softly. Jess was looking out of the backseat window with a similar feeling of exhaustion.

Katrina looked over her shoulder from the passenger seat. “Because without having been there before, it can get a little tricky. Don’t want to end up being cut in half, do you?” Katrina said, looking back and hitting Luciano’s arm. “Careful with my car!”

“I’m just parking it!” Luciano exclaimed.

“You were about to fuck up both that Jeep’s and my car’s paint jobs, you aren’t being carried along in a horse drawn carriage like a king like in whatever fucking century you’re from, and this isn’t your car to mess up!” Katrina hissed, getting out before the car was turned off. Luciano sighed and went to press the button.

“Parking brake,” Jess mumbled, and Luciano nodded.

“Parking brake.” Luciano paused. “What did you see?”

“The car rolling right into a tree,” Jess said, and Luciano raised his eyebrows.

“I should have you guys around more often.”

“Didn’t you crash a car? Why are you driving?” Sky whined.

Luciano shut his eyes. “That was you, Sky. And I don’t know, I figured I’d be helpful, help my daughter who was driving for 14 hours,” he said, sitting up straighter.

“You drove the last five minutes,” Jess said, and Luciano’s shoulders slumped.

“I rescind my earlier statement. I don’t want you around more often,” he declared, and Jess got out of the car. “I don’t like driving, okay?”

Sky gave Barney a nudge and stretched his arms, throwing one around Barney as he woke up. “You did park really close to the Jeep, dad,” Sky said, and Luciano handed Sky the keys.

“I’m going inside, lock the car door when you’re done,” Luciano said, getting out.

“Done with w— whatever, hey Barney, you up?” Sky hummed, and Barney went back to leaning on him.

“Barely,” he grumbled. “Are we here?”

“Yeah, we’re here. Come on, I know you’re tired but maybe we can get a room assigned to us and we can fucking sleep,” Sky said.

Barney groaned, turning into a snake and draping himself on Sky’s shoulders. Sky snickered and got out of the car, locking it and walking lazily to the front porch. It nearly reminded him of one of his father’s estates, but Luciano Cielo would never own a log cabin; he’d miss his luxuries too much. Sky was surprised his father even wanted to come.

Sky walked inside and wiped the sleep out of his eyes as Barney stirred and raised his head. “I smell cookies,” he said, sticking his tongue out. Sky put his hand on the couch and let Barney slither off of him. He turned back to his human form and marched over to the kitchen, leaning over the counter just in time to see Xavier pull out a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.

“Oh, hello! These are nearly ready, they just need to cool down,” Xavier said, setting the cookies on the counter and taking off his oven mitts. He held out a hand as Sky approached, hands in his pockets. “Professor Xavier White, ah, the Major’s my boyfriend.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Barney!” Barney grinned and shook hands with Xavier. Luciano, Jess, and Katrina hovered over the cookies as Sky nodded and shook hands as well.

“Call me Sky, I’m, I’m the angel,” Sky said, fidgeting with his thumbs. Xavier’s eyes widened, and Luciano took the time to snatch a cookie.

“You’re the angel, oh, dear, you should sit down, are you alright? All of you, make yourself at home, Gray’s gone off somewhere. You,” Xavier put a comforting hand on Sky’s shoulder. “You poor thing, I’ll get you anything you need, water, food, anything.”

Sky shrugged, his face warm. “I— um— I mean water would be nice. But I’m okay, really, uh, nothing to be concerned about or anything like that,” he stuttered.

“You sure that’s all, love?” Xavier asked, and Sky nodded. “Wings okay?”

“Yeah, I mean, there’s a feather missing. Obviously,” Sky said, spreading his wings out and pointing to an empty spot where a feather should have been, only noticeable when Xavier looked close. “And my powers have been a little iffy, I think that whenever Ross uses the feather I can tell. He hasn’t done it a lot, but I can tell.”

“Awful,” Xavier mumbled, shaking his head. “Sit, sit, I’ll get you that water.”

“I— um— thanks.” Sky rubbed the back of his neck and sat down on the couch. Barney followed suit with two cookies, handing one off to Sky and kissing him on the cheek. Sky draped a wing over him and took a bite of the cookie, humming at the taste. “This is a good cookie.”

“I’ll make more dough!” Xavier said as he handed Sky a glass of water. “Need a blanket, you kids?”

Sky looked to Barney for help. “Uhh—”

“Are you smothering, Xavier?” A pair of boots stomped on the ground outside the opened door, shaking off the dirt. Major Gray stepped inside, taking his gloves off and shutting the door behind him with his foot. Xavier smiled at him.

“Maybe a little,” Xavier admitted, chuckling. “Where’d you go?”

“Needed fresh air.” Gray raised his eyebrows at Sky. “Black wings, huh. You must be the idiot—”

“Poor soul,” Xavier corrected, hardening his gaze. Gray sighed and nodded.

“S’pose so. Your mother stayed back, right?” he asked, and Sky nodded.

“She’s badass but her badassery has limits, and that includes death,” Katrina said, shaking hands with Gray. “Full blown angels can’t kill, it’s lame, but since I’m half human, I can. I’m the idiot’s sister, by the way.”

“And I’m Papa Idiot,” Luciano piped up. “Gray and Xavier, Uni says a lot about you two.”

“Great,” Gray said, and Xavier sent him another glare. Sky put a hand on Barney’s shoulder and got up in search of the bathroom. He made his way down a hall, a door at the end and to the right catching his eye. There was something different about it, something wrong, like there should’ve been someone there.

Sky shivered at a sudden coldness that appeared out of nowhere, his breath visible in front of him. “What the fuck,” he whispered, turning around to look back at the living room. “Hey who kept the door—”

There was no one there. The cabin was empty and silent, but other than that and the temperature, it was all the same. Sky’s ears were ringing, and he covered them, stepping back. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the absolute—”

Sky whipped around, and saw a boy. He was leaning against the door to the room at the end of the hall, sitting quietly, watching him with curious bluish-gray eyes. He looked to be in his late teens, and his dyed red curls were matted and flattened against his head. He was tan and seemed like he could hold his own in a fight. He was covered in blood, and there were little pinpricks of water on his clothes, like rain had begun to fall.

Sky shook his head at the boy, trembling now. “What the fuck’s going on,” he whispered, and the boy’s eyes widened.

“Wait,” he said, his voice young and desperate. He stood up. “You can—?”

A firm hand on Sky’s back jolted him out of his frozen state. “The bathroom isn’t down this hall, kid,” Gray said, his eyes narrow. Sky stared, wide eyed, as the sounds of the busy cabin came back to him, along with the warmth. When Gray saw Sky’s face, he loosened up and lowered his hand. “Are you alright? You look like—”

“I’ve seen a ghost,” Sky finished, turning back to the room at the end of the hall and to the right. This time, the hall was empty, void of any blood-soaked teenager. Gray patted Sky on the back.

“Uhh, o-kay kid, get out of here, I’m gonna set up the rooms,” Gray said, and Sky nodded, walking out of the hall.

“What’s wrong?” Xavier asked, and Sky shook his head.

“Tired. Just tired.”

——

Three hours later, two cars pulled up to the cabin. Gray heard them clearly from a little ways away; his senses had been heightened ever since he was turned. Xavier felt Gray’s change in demeanor, came to the same conclusion he did, and went to make more cookies. Uni, who had arrived soon after Sky’s group, heard them coming as well. He took the last sip of his drink, set it down, and walked over to the window to watch them unload.

He froze, and sprinted back to Gray, pulling him fiercely into another room and slamming the door shut behind him. “What the hell, Uni,” Gray hissed, and Uni put a finger to his mouth.

“Those two twins are Lynxes, clear as fucking day,” the General whispered, and Gray pushed him away.

“The animal?” Gray asked, and Uni shook his head, moving his hand in a circular motion. Gray’s stomach dropped, and he took a step back, covering his mouth. All at once, the night Gray tried his hardest to forget came rushing back to him. “Oh, no. No no no.”

“Yeah, two of them. They have to be her kids, they have to be,” Uni said, shaking his head. “Oh buddy they’re gonna kill you so fast everyone’s heads will spin.”

Gray tried to take a deep breath. “The twins, you mean Nick and Shelby? I’ve spoken to Shelby over text, I didn’t know she— this is bad. Wait. Oh god, they’re twenty,” he breathed, turning around and pressing his head to the wall.

“Yeah, and what did you do twenty years ago, Gray!” Uni exclaimed, shaping his hand like a gun and pointing it. Gray turned around and shoved Uni back.

“Quiet DOWN!” Gray barked, his canines sharpening. He backed against the wall and covered his mouth just as Xavier opened the door.

“Uni, out,” Xavier ordered, and Uni shook his head.

“I’m not going out there, what if they recognize me,” he said, motioning outside. Xavier tilted his head to the side.

“Go,” Gray said, and Uni huffed, sneaking around Xavier and darting away. Xavier sighed and shut the door. He gave Gray a look he knew all too well. Gray cursed and shut his eyes. “Xavier, no.”

“Xavier yes, you’re pressed to a wall, hyperventilating,” Xavier said, taking a cautious step forward and holding his hands out. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

“I’m not— hyperventilating,” Gray said, definitely hyperventilating. “I am perfectly— all good. No problem.”

“Okay fine but can we please take deeper breaths?” Xavier asked, and Gray opened his eyes and held Xavier’s hands. Once he tried, his breathing began to slow. “You’re gonna be okay. What did he do.”

“It’s what I did,” Gray mumbled, avoiding eye contact. “Can we talk about it later.”

“We’re talking about a lot of things later,” Xavier said, and Gray nodded.

“I know. I need to introduce them, show them around. I’m pretty sure rooms have been assigned correctly, once we all get a chance to rest, I promise, I’ll tell you. I promise, Xavier. I love you,” Gray said, and Xavier held his arms out. Gray smiled and leaned into Xavier’s hug.

“I love you too,” Xavier said. “Hang in there, Major.”

“Hanging in there, Professor,” Gray mumbled. He took one last deep breath before leaving the room.

Gray’s eyes drew to the twins almost immediately, even before the giant white wolf. They were short, but Nick was shorter, and quieter too. Shelby had the katana she’d mentioned over text, which apparently had a good shot at killing things people didn’t know how to kill. She reminded Gray most of her alleged mother at first glance. She had an air of confidence that Nick didn’t have, and a glare that made everyone nervous as hell.

Nick drew everyone’s eyes as well, but it may have been because everyone in the room knew the story. Gray could tell the beige hoodie he was wearing didn’t belong to him, for it was much too big. It must’ve been the Boyfriend’s. Nick looked small, sad, and weak, and Gray felt an urge to comfort him. He reminded Gray of someone.

“Um, is everyone here?” Gray asked, loud enough to make everyone quiet down. “Besides Jin, he’s coming tomorrow.”

Everyone turned their heads to Gray. He cleared his throat. “I’ve assigned rooms,” he said, digging a piece of paper out of his pocket. “I know everyone’s tired, so everything’s set up.” He looked around, enjoying the quiet. “Okay. We did our best with what you all requested, here goes. Shark, AK, Ghetto, and Jordan, you get the living room. I advise you to let Jordan and Ghetto have the pull out couch. And, please don’t make it too messy out here.”

AK crossed his arms over his chest and huffed as Shark claimed the recliner.

“Uni and Luciano get the attic.” Luciano grinned and elbowed Uni, who sighed.

“Sky, Barney, and Jin get the basement, I have a blow-up mattress set up down there, a couch too, Jin gets the couch unless you want to cuddle with the guy, that’s all you.” Barney snickered, and Sky leaned on him.

“Xavier and I have the master bedroom, and finally the guest bedroom goes to Annie, Shelby, Jess, Katrina, and— and Nick,” Gray said, looking at Nick, who pulled his hood further over his head and shied away from the girls. Gray held out a hand, and sighed. “Actually, Nick, come with me.”

Shelby watched as Nick looked up and walked towards Gray, Yoti trailing behind him. Gray led him down the hall, and Xavier gasped. “He’s gonna...”

Gray stopped at the door at the end of the hall and to the right. “I wasn’t gonna let anyone... um, you can have this room. To yourself,” he said. Nick gazed up at him, feeling the waves of grief coming off him as he opened the door and glanced inside.

“I’m— I’m so sorry,” Nick whispered, lowering his hood. “I don’t mean to intrude.”

“Take the room, kid, it’s the safest one here,” Gray urged. “I’m right next to you if you ever need anything, no matter what time, I’ll keep my door unlocked.”

“I won’t mess up anything that belonged to him,” Nick promised, and Gray was taken aback for a moment, wondering if he’d said something that gave it away.

Then he remembered, and sighed. “Empath, right. Thank you, but if you find any old art stuff you want to check out, it’s fine by me, may as well put them to good use,” he offered.

“Thank you, Gray.” Nick offered a brief smile, walking into the room and setting his bag down on the bed. Yoti looked up at Gray.

_Yes, thank you._

A chill ran down Gray’s spine at the voice in his head. “No— problem?” He shot the wolf a thumbs up, letting him enter the room as well before softly closing the door.

He jumped when he saw Xavier leaning against the door to their bedroom, smirking. Gray pointed at him. “Don’t even,” he warned. Xavier scoffed and opened the door, letting Gray walk in first.

——

“That was really nice of him,” Nick mumbled, laying down and staring at the ceiling. “I wonder what his son was like.”

 _Pleasant, I’m sure,_ Yoti said, hopping up at the foot of the bed. Nick put his hands on his stomach and shut his eyes.

It had been easier to focus on the Major’s strong feelings rather than let everyone else’s swim around his head, like what had happened when he first walked in. All the feelings made his stomach twist; it was overwhelming, and yet Nick still felt bad for latching onto such a serious feeling. He picked them out in the crowd, amidst Xavier’s worry and Sky’s rage and Ghetto’s confusing static, amongst others. Everyone seemed to be sad, scared, and angry, but Gray’s grief stood out like a sore thumb. Nick may have dug too deep, may have even seen flashes of a rainy day, then a funeral, but it was oddly easier to focus on something from the past, unrelated to Red or Ross, as morbid as it was.

 _I know what you’re doing, Nick, you need to stop thinking about other people. Focus on what you’re feeling,_ Yoti urged, and Nick shook his head. A troubling thought that Nick had pushed down was resurfacing, bubbling up like acid in his throat; painful, unwanted.

“I don’t want to,” he said, turning on his side and facing away from Yoti.

 _Why not?_ Nick looked at the wall, covering his ears despite Yoti’s voice being in his head. _Nick, you can’t afford to bottle things up, not now. You have to be honest with yourself._

“I’m perfectly honest with myself,” Nick whispered, taking a shaky breath. “I’m worried. Worried that Cory isn’t okay right now, worried that we’ll get there too late, worried that all these people with all these feelings will die because of me and I’m worried about whether or not I—” He covered his mouth, and Yoti raised his head.

 _Nick? Nick. Let it out._ Nick wrapped the pillow around his head and groaned. Yoti’s ears twitched backwards. _Nick._

“Can I be left alone for a while, Yoti?” Nick asked, his jaw shaking. Yoti sighed, and nodded. He got down and walked away, and Nick heard the door open and close. Nick let out a sob, blinking as his eyes began to tear up. He curled his legs closer and cried, his whole body trembling now. He let out a few shaky breaths and whispered, “I don’t want to feel this way, I don’t, I can’t. I just can’t, I need Cory back, I need him back so that I can know for sure I love him. I love him, he’s good, I love him, he’s good, I... I...”

And what if he wasn’t? What if Nick didn’t like that night, or the taste of cigarettes, or the way Cory held him, or any of it? What if he liked someone else better? What would that mean?

Nick, for just a moment, entertained the thought.

“I love him, he’s good, I love him, he’s good, I love him...”

——

“Gray, y’know, remember all those times where we weren’t dating?”

“I do.”

“Those were less awkward than this, right now,” Xavier said. He and Gray were in bed, staring at the ceiling, Gray nearly hanging off the edge of the bed. “Are you avoiding me.”

“Maybe a little. Talking is hard,” Gray said, “even when it’s you.”

“I know. I don’t have anything like you do, at least that you don’t know about. All I have is wine country family trip of ‘97. I don’t talk about wine country family trip of ‘97.” There was a pause. “I’m sorry. I was trying to lighten the mood.”

Gray scoffed, and said, “You’re alright. Be glad you don’t have anything like I do.” He scooted closer. “I’ve done things.”

“You’re not alone in that,” Xavier reassured, and Gray shook his head.

“Killed people.”

Xavier went quiet. “I figured,” he whispered. “Keep going, this is good.”

“Alright, here goes. Twenty years ago was a long time. I was 23.” Gray inched his hand away when Xavier tried to hold it. “Hold on, let me, just hold on,” he said, moving Xavier’s hand back to his side. “I’m alright, Xave. It was before you were in on the project, I didn’t know a lot back then, just that there were apparently bad monsters out there and they were a threat and they wouldn’t let us do what we wanted with them. We pointed and shot, a lot, it was a lot worse before Ross started to bring in people like you. I didn’t have any blood on my hands yet, not then. But there was one witch, that no one could kill. She took out whole platoons like it was nothing, she was incredible, and batshit horrifying. Anika Lynx.”

Xavier propped himself up on his elbow. “You mean like—”

Gray nodded, and Xavier laid back down, facing Gray this time. “I was meant to die on that mission, my boss told it right to my face, I was supposed to die going with my platoon to her house, we were just the distraction. I didn’t want to die. Maybe I should’ve just— I...”

Xavier pressed his head closer to the pillow, waiting to hear it from him.

“Those kids don’t have a mother now, and maybe I’m starting to think that what she said to me was right, at least before I turned into a werewolf.” Gray covered his eyes and tried to keep his breathing level. “She told me, your actions will lead you to a life of loss, and maybe then you’ll feel an ounce of what the survivors of your genocide will feel.”

“Gray—”

“I did a really bad thing, a really really bad thing. And the witch was right, wasn’t she? I got divorced, I lost my son, a lot of my friends hate me, god knows I’ll never forget what I said to you before we left, nine years ago.”

“When I told you this I didn’t think you’d act like a fucking maniac, you’re drawing everyone’s attention to us and I swear to god if you don’t shut the fuck up right now I won’t even bother trying with you anymore,” Xavier recited, and Gray winced.

“That was bad, I’m really sorry. You should get me back one day. Slap me, or something,” Gray said, and Xavier rolled his eyes.

“I’m not gonna slap you, it’s been nine years and you already said sorry a while ago. I don’t keep grudges. Unless it’s, like, Ross.” Xavier reached out, and Gray sighed, holding his hand. “I love you. And you’ve made mistakes, really impactful ones, really big ones—”

“Xavier.” Gray raised an eyebrow.

“Right, sorry. But you’re a good person,” Xavier said. “You changed, you grew. I’d be concerned if you showed no remorse for the things you’ve done. I know it’s shit to feel like shit, but in this case it really shows how much you care. Ross doesn’t care. Gray does.”

“I don’t know if I should tell those kids,” Gray said, and Xavier shook his head.

“Not yet, they have too much on their minds. Do you have anything else to tell me?” Xavier asked, and Gray shook his head. “Good, because I am exhausted.” He pulled Gray’s arm around him, and Gray smiled, holding Xavier close.

“I do want to know about wine country family trip of ‘97.”

“You don’t.”

——

“Okay, my sleep schedule is officially fucked,” Shark said, looking out into the dark expanse of woods. He could see the beginnings of a faint snowfall, and hoped they wouldn’t get snowed in. “Yikes, it is the middle of the night.”

“We aren’t sleeping normally for a while, we have work to get done,” Ghetto said, rubbing his eyes. Jordan was still asleep. “And keep it down, would you? Boy’s sleeping, hasn’t been able to for a while.”

“Sorry,” Shark whispered, quieting down.

The door slammed open, jolting Jordan awake and making everyone else jump. Jin stood at the doorway, his eyes wide. “I nearly got into a fucking wreck!” he announced, and Shark winced.

“Wake up all the wolves, would you,” he said, and Jin sighed, shutting the door behind him.

“Coyotes. And bears,” Jin corrected, walking past Shark as he stared back out the window, wide eyed. “Where the hell is Gray?”

“Here, I’m here, Jesus Christ, you don’t gotta yell,” Gray grumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose as he stumbled out into the living room. He moved his hand and spared Jin a glance. “I wasn’t expecting you until—”

“Have to yell, have to,” Jin whispered, trailing off at the end as if he knew the mistake he made.

“You’re a prick.” Gray leaned down and put his hands on his knees, more or less matching Jin’s height. “I was not expecting you until tomorrow,” Gray said, speaking slowly. “This is my inside voice, could we please use it, kid.”

“Don’t fucking patronize me, Major Asshole, I am not in a good mood!” Jin yelled, throwing his coat on the ground. “I nearly crashed my damn car!”

“Maybe because you’re psyching yourself out about what Ross told you that one time and now every time you drive you’re on edge which actually makes you a worse driver also you were driving in pitch black on dirt roads? How about you go rest,” Gray said, holding out a hand. Jin stammered and slapped Gray’s hand away, or tried. “Basement. Straight down the hall.”

Jin huffed and walked past Gray, marching down the hall and opening the door as instructed. The staircase was a half spiral that led him into a rather cold room where he could hear the steps of the people above via the creaking of the floorboards. The light was on, and two people were leaning over a foosball table. The sound of plastic clinking and loud voices echoed in the room and made Jin wince.

“HA! Eat my dirt!” Barney threw his arms in the air, cackling. Sky grit his teeth, his face tinted red.

“This game’s fuckin’ rigged! No way you can win on your first time playing!” Sky, at that moment, seemed like the type of person you just let win and be done with it, but it looked as if Barney wasn’t quite picking up on that vibe.

“I’m just better at the foosball than you, honey,” Barney gloated, squinting his eyes and sticking his tongue out.

“Don’t honey me! I’ll fucking take you down,” Sky hissed, and Jin watched the exchange with the curiosity of a man who’d never experienced the luxury of being mad over something so petty. It took a solid two minutes for Sky to look beyond Barney and see Jin, and then he let himself take a breath. “You.”

“Me,” Jin said, slipping his bag off his shoulder and setting it down. “Sorry to interrupt your argument, but I was told I had to rest.” He held out a hand, and Barney shook it first, grinning wide. Jin winced at his eyepatch but smiled back. Sky reached over the foosball table to shake hands as well.

“I was glad to know you ended up alive, after getting us out of there,” Sky said, and Jin shrugged.

“Me too. I thought I was a goner, but he was interested in your feather more than anything,” Jin said. Barney noticed their refusal to name Ross, and frowned, but said nothing. “Here I am, living in fear. Maybe that was his plan. For me to be afraid. It’s working.”

Jin was unaware that he’d killed, murdered, really just obliterated the mood. Sky blinked and shook his head, rubbing his hands together for warmth. “Right. Well, you get settled, you have the couch to yourself. Bon appetit.”

“That’s not—” Jin shut his eyes and shook his head. “Nothing.”

Jin picked his stuff back up and leaned it against the couch. He fell back onto the soft couch and figured he could fit in a nap.

——

“Come on baby, gimme a kiss.” A familiar figure, smoking in the doorway. Tall, then less so, then tall again. Red eyes, then blue. Red hair, then blond. “Don’t leave me hanging, don’t ever leave me hanging again. Not in front of my friends, not ever again or I’ll beat your ass I swear to fucking god I’ll beat your fucking ass and then show you exactly what I fucking want from you.”

Nick was crying, covering himself with a bedsheet, begging.

“Richredcory—” Nick stuttered at his own words for a moment. “I didn’t mean to leave you hanging, I didn’t mean anything, I’m stupid, I know, I don’t know anything about any of this and you do and I’m sorry—”

“COME ON I SAID COME ON SHOW ME A GOOD TIME!” the man shouted. “I’M SO HUNGRY DOLL!” He stepped forward, holding out his arms. Nick flinched and looked away as the man emerged from the shadows of the hallway. The man grabbed his chin and forced Nick to look, and just for a moment, the hair was blond and the eyes were blue and the stubble was awkward and scratchy and ugly and the smell of cigarettes and beer filled the room and that deceivingly sweet-sounding voice said to Nick, “Let me prove it to you.”

And then there was a banging on the door and Nick woke up, shooting upright in bed. He was shivering and sweating, his breathing uneven, his mouth dry. He flinched and shuddered worse when there was a soft knock on the door. “Nick? It’s— well it’s Xavier, you awake?”

Nick shook his head and tried to gather himself. “Y-Yeah,” he croaked, wondering where Yoti went.

“Oh! Well, I made some more cookies and I noticed you didn’t get any because I mean, I notice things— anyway dear I was wondering if you wanted any, I made a plate for you! I’ll leave it by the door alright love?” Xavier’s voice was odd, but for some reason, fairly soothing in that moment. “Just in case you’d like any.”

“Alr-Alright.” Nick paused. “What kind?”

“Today I made the M&M ones, I hope that’s alright, if not I—”

“It’s fine! That’s fine, I don’t know why I asked,” Nick mumbled the last part. “Thank you, Professor.”

“No problem. You get extra,” Xavier said, and Nick felt Xavier’s smile through the door. Nick slowed his breathing and waited for Xavier’s footsteps to fade away. Then, he put his head in his hands and tried his hardest not to cry.

——

“Is he alright?” Gray asked Xavier, holding an arm out. His brows were furrowed and his eyes were packed full of worry. Xavier shrugged his shoulders.

“Spoke to me, that’s all I can say.” He walked into Gray’s arm and put a hand on his back in return. “So,” he said, “I suppose we should begin.”

Gray squeezed Xavier and then let go, walking towards the cluster of chatting people in his living room. “Hey,” he said in a booming military voice that immediately turned all heads towards him, including that of a weretiger Gray was sure he knew, did know. The night he could never forget... It was a smaller world than Gray thought, and he resisted the urge to ask about the mother. “Send the kid downstairs, let’s talk.”

Ghetto squeezed Jordan’s shoulders, pointing to the door to the basement. Jordan nodded and walked down the hall, tail low and ears flat. A few moments of silence followed; where to start?

“We know where they want us to go,” Shelby said, clearing her throat. “Nick’s... our missing person mentioned it. An abandoned prison. It’s a trap to lure Nick in, most likely. Red wants Nick.” She shuddered at the thought.

“And Ross wants chaos,” Uni mumbled, picking aimlessly at a hangnail. “And probably knew word would end up with us as well, he knows everything.”

“I don’t even know anything about this Ross motherfucker, you just said he was a scientist who was doing some weird experiments,” Ghetto said, and Gray held up his hands. Xavier stepped forward.

“Gray Uni and I worked with him back when he was still government sponsored. The project we were working on was, well, really bad. Cryptids died, or were captured and used for experiments. Ross led that project until it was shut down nine years ago—”

“You were a part of that?” Ghetto hissed, taking a step forward. Gray grabbed Xavier’s shoulders.

“We did bad shit, awful shit, and now we’re trying to make it right. We’ll kill Ross, he’s only human.”

“With the power to cause tragedies,” Sky added, raising his hand. “Hey, angel of death here, Ross is extremely dangerous, and he has these weird mutant experiments that are immortal, are controlled by him, and are pretty much mindless zombies looking to kill. So, there’s also that part.”

“But if we can get close enough, catch him off guard, we can theoretically get the feather off him,” Gray said, face uncertain, voice wavering. “And, risk him killing us all in the blink of an eye.”

“Not to mention Red’s with him,” Shark piped up, shivering. “That guy’s really bad too, Ann did some investigating and apparently he’s a kind of fucking boogeyman. There’s a whole nightmarish tale about him that parents tell their kids, have been telling their kids.”

“Wait, fuckin’ actually?” Shelby whispered. Shark and Annie both nodded. “For how long, he’s only 20-something, how can he be this notorious?”

“He’s not—” AK grimaced as everyone turned to look at him, “he’s not 20-something. He’s much older. He’s been around for a long long time.”

A cloud of fear descended upon the cabin at the utterance of those words. Luciano offered a nod towards AK’s claim, and Shelby gripped her katana tight, staring AK down like she was about to chop his head off just for saying such a thing, true or not.

Ghetto rubbed his arms and said in a shaky voice, “What do you mean.”

“I mean, fucker’s been killing since the 1930s, started with his parents, then went on a spree that continues to this day,” AK explained. “That’s the story parents tell their kids to keep them from doing bad shit, the boogeyman story. Red ate his parents, he’s a cannibal, and if you don’t do the dishes he’s gonna eat you too.”

“What the fuck, so he’s immortal?” Ghetto spat. AK shrugged. “Well how do we fucking kill him! What the fuck is he!”

“Our best bet is the badass lady with the magic sword,” Jess suggested. Shelby smirked at her. “Can your sword hurt immortals? You said it can kill anything.”

“Theoretically. I haven’t tried, haven’t run into an—” Shelby stopped, and everyone followed her gaze to Luciano Cielo, who was slouching on the couch. He looked around at all of them, and smiled.

“What’s up?” he asked, and Katrina grabbed his wrist and lifted his arm. “Wait—” Shelby stepped closer and effortlessly swiped her sword, slicing a thin cut on Luciano’s arm. Luciano shouted and grabbed it, and when he looked at his hand, sure enough, there was blood. “Dios fuckin’ mio, thanks a lot.”

“Pussy,” Sky whispered, and Luciano whacked his shoulder. “So, we chop Red’s head off. Then seal it in a box and bury it underground. Some cliche shit like that.”

“Dibs on the head,” Shelby said, smirking. Uni scoffed.

“If it works.”

“In the meantime, I brought all my old notes from the project, if I find something that matches what you’ve seen him do, maybe we can find out the proper way to kill him. As a backup,” Xavier suggested. “What can he do?”

“His hands have paralysis powers,” Shark said, and Ghetto nodded to that. “He can control lights.”

“I think he can fuck with your head, too,” Ghetto brought up, and Yoti let out a low growl. “Nick, um, Nick was talking to himself one time, but I think he saw Red, who wasn’t actually there, and none of us. Like, a hallucination, almost, a nightmare. I’ve never heard of anything exactly like that.”

Xavier looked behind him and saw the door at the end of the hall and to the right being shut by a small hand. The cookies had gone. Xavier smiled and turned back, holding Gray’s hand.

——

Alright, the cookies were good; Nick was on his third when his breathing finally returned to normal, and the world seemed just a little less awful. He sat on the bed and avoided getting crumbs on the sheets, looking around the room to distract himself further.

There were things he hadn’t noticed before, like the old posters on the walls of punk rock bands, or the cluster of boxes in the corner, or the trophies and pictures on the shelves. Nick picked up a picture that was on the nightstand and rubbed the dust off the glass. There was a cluster of teenagers at a birthday party, and the boy in the middle seemed so happy that it made Nick tear up again. He put the picture back and slowly slipped off the bed, looking at a makeshift trophy shelf. Nick took one off and turned the faded print towards the light.

‘Comic Contest Winner’

Nick put it back and took down another one.

‘Best in Show’

Gray had mentioned art supplies. Nick figured that Gray’s son must’ve been an artist, and that rang true when Nick saw a cabinet that had been painted over in acrylics, depicting a stylized version of the view from the window right above it. Things had changed, trees taller and such, but Nick could see it. He walked over and opened the cabinet.

Sure enough, there were art supplies galore on the bottom shelf of the cabinet. But on the upper shelf sat a box, which Nick couldn’t help but pull out. He sat on the ground and opened it, eyes wide.

Art. Really good art, too, the kind of art that would be in a comic book. There were plenty of homemade comics, fully painted pieces, and sketchbooks. Nick recognized a drawing of Gray, and another man Nick had seen on a picture on the wall, maybe an ex-husband.

Nick took out a journal that was worn with use and age; even the cover was fragile. Nick could nearly... feel things within the pages, happiness, anger, sadness...

He stopped himself from opening it, shaking his head. “I can’t do this, this is wrong,” he whispered, rubbing his thumb against the journal. “I have no right—”

Nick felt a sudden chill on his shoulder, and felt a faint feeling of reassurance that came from somewhere so close, yet so far. Something was telling him it was okay.

“Well, I mean,” he said, raising an eyebrow and looking around. “If the mysterious... air says it’s alright. To hell with it.” He opened the journal.

——

The storage shed was filled nearly to the brim with old boxes, but Sky managed to fit himself in and shut the door anyway. He backed up, making enough room for a second person, and then he said, “Alright, motherfucker, show your fuckin’ face.”

“You’re the one with the magic ghost seeing powers.” Sky yelped and dove back at the voice, and he found himself thrust back into the cold realm he was in before. A boy was in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. He looked different from the last time Sky saw him: brighter eyes, hair bleached blond instead of dyed red, no bloody mess. He almost looked alive.

“Who the fuck are you?” Sky asked, and the dead boy blinked. “Why do you look different.”

“I’m in a better mood than I was,” the boy said, looking away. “The more I’m consumed by my feelings the more I start to look like... how I looked the day I died.”

Sky nodded slowly. “And your name?”

——

“Calum Gray,” Nick whispered, lightly touching the pen marks. He flipped to the first page, which was the date of Gray’s son’s eleventh birthday, a little over nine years ago. It occurred to Nick that his own birthday was only a few months later.

‘Figured a new birthday called for a new journal. Hello, I’m Cal, and this shall be my newest hunting cabin journal. Or, I guess not a lot of hunting gets done anymore. I don’t like hunting, but my dad does. Or did. He says he used to hunt when he had more friends, and when he and pa were still married. But pa’s busy a lot and dad doesn’t really have those friends anymore. Well he says he has one good friend, but that he wouldn’t like hunting either. I would’ve liked to meet him anyway.’

The mention of Xavier made Nick snicker. He turned the page.

——

“So, you’re the Major’s dead son,” Sky said, looking Cal up and down. “Yeah, I see it. You got the same nose.”

“Great, thanks,” Cal said, sighing. “I... don’t really know what to say. Haven’t talked to anyone in two years, it’s kinda weird.”

“Yeah, I mean, you’re the first ghost I’ve met, so... yeah.” Sky rubbed the back of his neck. “I think I’m supposed to help you out, but I’m gonna be honest, I’m not really the best man for the job, and I don’t really know how to—”

“Kill Ross,” Cal said, eyes narrowing. For a moment, his image flickered, and there was blood and red hair and raindrops again. He covered his face and calmed himself, taking a step back. When he moved his hands, his eyes were glassy. He wiped them and shook his head. Sky stared, lips parted and hands shaking ever so slightly.

“I intend to,” he whispered.

——

Nick skimmed the pages.

‘This place is nice. Sometimes when I’m back at home in the city I get overwhelmed, wondering what will happen to all those people.’ Nick covered his mouth. ‘I don’t know why I’m so concerned about them, I can’t help it. Sometimes I just imagine a lady going home to her family, or a guy ordering a pizza, shit like that (dad if you ever find this sorry for cussing but it’s how I feel and you say I can cuss if it’s how I feel).’

“Wait a second,” Nick whispered, turning the page. He gasped and dropped the journal.

——

“Did Ross...”

“He didn’t kill me, no, had nothing to do with it. Well, maybe a little, just barely, indirectly, but, no.” Cal shut his eyes. “But Ross hurt my dad plenty. Ross ruined his life, Ross causes him so much stress and I want him gone! Then maybe my dad can move on for real, if he has one less huge thing to worry about. Because, what he’s been doing? That’s not moving on.”

Sky looked at his hands, not sure what to say. Cal gasped suddenly and turned back towards the cabin. “I have to go. Someone’s gonna tell me something,” Cal said. “Something a younger me would’ve needed to hear.”

“What the fuck,” Sky mumbled, and then Cal was gone.

——

Nick was covering his ears and crying, curled up in a ball like an eleven year old who had just discovered a power he thought couldn’t exist, an eleven year old who was overwhelmed by the realization, who was afraid of his own mind. On the ground beside him, the piece of vent art he was mimicking sent waves of a child’s fear into him despite its age, despite its lack of sentience.

And beneath all the fear, and all the wishes for a power to disappear, an underlying feeling of WHY CAN’T MY DAD JUST TREAT ME LIKE A NORMAL PERSON wafted subtly through the air. Only a person like Nick could pinpoint it in the messy drawing, much less capture the feeling itself with his powers.

Nick took a shaky breath and wiped his eyes. “I know the feeling, Cal, of, of wanting it to go away,” he said to the empty room, still crying. “Someone told me it would be better if it went away, all of it. I wanted to believe him, I really did, I do— but do I? What if thinking that way is no good? It seemed to make you feel pretty bad about yourself, and you shouldn’t feel that way, I wouldn’t want you to, Gray wouldn’t. What if the one we’re looking for was wrong, what if I’m wrong about— a lot of things... I... I just don’t know what’s right, I never know what’s right, who’s right. I don’t know if that makes any sense, I’m sorry, I don’t know if that makes any sense.”

Nick could’ve sworn he felt arms around him, cold but comforting. “Someone told me I was special, once. Ordinary doesn’t suit Nick Lynx. It made me feel nice, I guess, so, maybe ordinary doesn’t suit Calum Gray either. Maybe ordinary doesn’t suit either of us,” Nick said, shivering and flashing a smile. “That feels like the better thing to say.”

“It is.” Nick jumped at the sound of Gray’s voice. He whipped around and saw the Major in the doorway. “Um, the door wasn’t closed all the way. I was gonna check up on you,” he explained. “Are you—”

“I didn’t mean to snoop, I’m sorry,” Nick said, and Gray shook his head and stepped inside, closing the door softly behind him. “I just got caught up in it all. Your son—”

“What do you want to know?” Gray asked, and Nick stuttered, looking back at the journal.

——

“We came up here for Cal’s eleventh birthday,” Gray began, leaning against the bed as Nick sat and drew. “Just him and me. However, I ended up getting paid a visit by some hunters who found themselves a little lost, real big group of people. They were about to leave when Cal came out screaming his head off and crying, said one of the hunters needed a brighter colored jacket. I went ahead and gave the guy one of mine, and they left, and it took five minutes for me to calm Cal down. He said he saw the guy getting shot later that day while taking a walk on his own.”

Nick paused, looking at Gray with wide, curious eyes. Gray smiled at him. “Kid could see the future. I figured it came from his surrogate mother, ‘cause I sure as hell am— was human. Damn, nearly forgot.”

Nick giggled at that, and Gray shook his head. “Jesus fuck, that was a long time ago. Fuuck, I can’t believe I’m telling you this before Xavier.”

“He seemed like a wonderful son,” Nick said, “and a great artist.”

“Went to college for graphic design.” Gray paused, and retied his shoe. “Nick. Don’t ever listen to people like, like the first guy you mentioned back there, whoever he may be. People like that are just jealous, alright, because you have the cool fuckin’ powers and they don’t.”

Nick was quiet after that, and for a while the only noise in the room came from the soft scrapes of pencil against paper, as Nick drew and Gray continued to fuss with his shoelaces. The Major, the father, recalled a distant memory of a drunk teenager in bed, scared and ashamed and consumed by a belief that he was alone on this cruel fucking planet. That in mind, Gray took a deep breath, and said, “If you stay in here, stay alone, forever— you— your thoughts will only consume you. It’s nice and probably even good at first but time goes by quick and it’s been... two years before you know it. Even if you don’t want to say what’s on your mind, being around people you know, your sister—”

“Shelby doesn’t like me,” Nick mumbled, and Gray scoffed.

“I find that really hard to believe with how she’s been acting. She’s not mad, or anything, she’s just worried sick. If she’s mad, she’s mad at Red, at Ross, for making you feel this way,” Gray said, and even then he knew deep down that something was amiss, something didn’t line up there. Call it a father’s intuition, but something about all of this just wasn’t right. Who was the one, Nick? Who told you it would be better if it all went away and who’s really making you shut yourself in this room and have the nightmares I know you’re having and can I have their home address or are they, is he, the one who disappeared that fateful night, Nick? How do I know all this, Nick? Call it a father’s intuition.

“But I— I left. With my boyfriend, I left and I didn’t talk to them I only talked to— to him.” Nick’s voice was wavering.

The next words spilled out of Gray’s mouth before he could adequately process them. “Did he let you?” he asked, and Nick paled at that, like the drunk teenage boy had done after Gray asked if it had been entirely his decision to get drunk in the first place. Next, the crying would come, and the messy, raspy confession, ‘No, no dad, I really thought I would be home early my friends were just making fun of me so much and then I got mad and stupid and—’

“Of— course,” Nick said, and Gray snapped back to reality. He cussed inwardly and thought, _Come on, Gray, there’s no conspiracy, his boyfriend did not do anything wrong_ unless he did _stop stop stop the kid can read your feelings just stop it. You’re not a father anymore. Quit acting like one._

“Alright. But your sister is not mad at you, and she never will be, not about something like this. Maybe, one day, over something stupid, that’s how siblings are— but not about this,” Gray said, and that was it. He left the room, searched the cabin for Xavier, and hugged him. Xavier gasped, and then relaxed, returning the embrace.

“Oh, Gray, dear,” he sighed, patting Gray’s back.

——

Ghetto was the first to notice Nick stepping out of his room the next day. He was cautious, wide-eyed, and fidgety, shuffling into the hall and meeting Ghetto’s eyes almost immediately. Ghetto smiled and waved, and Nick urged him to come over. Ghetto did, happily dipping out of a conversation with AK. He walked into the hall and began to say, “Feeling any—”

“Where’s Shelby?” Nick asked, looking to the side of Ghetto and whining. “Is she outside.”

Ghetto blinked. “Yeah, out back, I’m pretty sure she’s showing off her abilities to the Professor because he got like really excited about it, and Gray was gonna chop up some logs out there anyway, I think Jess is out there too watching from afar, hehe—”

“I’m—” Nick tried to laugh, “I’m afraid to talk to her.”

Ghetto scoffed and put gentle hands on Nick’s shoulders. “How come?” he asked, and Nick looked away, head tilted. Ghetto’s smirk fell. “Is it— do you think— she’s not mad, or anything.”

“I shut her out. Again,” Nick said, rubbing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “I shut you out too. Welcome to Nick Lynx’s inner circle, I guess. Yay.” He held out his arms, and did an unenthusiastic jazz hands motion. Ghetto sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, and Nick could see the proper response being formulated right behind his eyes.

“I— well—” Ghetto shut his eyes for a moment. Oh, how to blame Cory without explicitly blaming Cory. “I don’t think anyone’s mad about that, not me for sure.”

“You’re mad about something, then,” Nick pressed. “All four of you, I can feel it from a mile away.”

Ghetto was in pain. “Mmmmmmm I don’t think so,” he replied, his voice rising in pitch. He grimaced and his nose scrunched up in a way that nearly made Nick blush. Nearly. Instead, Nick crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, alright?” Ghetto opened his eyes, his lips parted as he watched Nick take a small step forward. “I’m sorry I left, I’m sorry I didn’t call, I don’t know why— I— I just should’ve called. I should’ve called and I should have come home,” Nick said, voice quivering. “I missed you guys, I missed you, Ghetto.”

Ghetto’s face was warm in a mixture of rage towards Cory and a feeling he’d been trying to deal with for a while now. Nick shuffled away as the rage and the static made the hairs on his arms stand up. “You’re mad,” he said, shaking his head. Ghetto held out a hand. “You’re furious at me too, and if you are, she must be—”

“Nick, no!” Ghetto took Nick’s hand in both of his. Nick gasped and looked between his hand and Ghetto’s eyes, black from a distance but such a pretty dark green up close. “I’d never be mad at you, alright? No one could, not at you.”

“You’d be surprised,” Nick mumbled, and Ghetto grit his teeth.

“You didn’t— it wasn’t—” Ghetto cursed. “I know it wasn’t your fault you left and didn’t call.” Nick stared, and Ghetto’s face flushed again. “Because— because... because you were afraid! Afraid. It’s okay, you can do what you want when you’re afraid, and always for that matter. If you want to run away, run away.”

“And if I didn’t— I mean, if I don’t?” Nick asked, eyes glassy. Ghetto let out a shaky sigh.

“Then don’t,” he whispered, rubbing a stray eyelash off Nick’s cheek. Nick put a hand over Ghetto’s, and then lifted himself to the tips of his toes. Ghetto leaned over a bit, and they kissed. The static enveloped them, ringing in Nick’s ears and tickling his skin. He let it all fall away for a moment, let his eyes flutter shut, let the faint taste of lemonade and cookies on Ghetto’s lips draw him to another world where all was good in the world and they weren’t here, but back in Seaport, playing board games with Jordan and falling asleep unafraid. Ghetto’s arms wrapped around Nick, around the rough fabric of Cory’s jacket.

Cory. Nick’s eyes widened as the realization struck, shattering his fantasy. He yelped and shoved Ghetto back, covering his mouth. Ghetto put a hand on his head, unable to form words. Nick found himself quivering. Ghetto was (unintentionally) blocking his door. “Nick—” Ghetto began, but Nick sprinted past him, then past everyone else, nearly knocking a glass out of Sky’s hand. Nick threw the door open and just ran, scarf flapping behind him. Everyone turned back to look at Ghetto.

“What did you do?” AK asked, and Ghetto let out a strangled noise.

——

Snow had begun to fall, and small white flecks found a home resting right on top of Nick’s curls as he ran against the wind, wiping tears out of his eyes every few seconds.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? Nick felt like he was in a dream, running and yet going nowhere, swimming through a thick sludge. Time wasn’t real. The moon landing was fake. Human beings lived in a simulation. The sky was falling, the sky was falling! NICK KISSED GHETTO! He was about to lose his goddamn mind!

Why did he do that? It was like the static took over, almost. Nick was just glad to keep it far, far away from him, despite the cold outdoors. He would rough it in the woods from now on, yes; make a fire with two sticks and let the animals tell him which berries were safe to eat. No one would find him, especially not Ghetto, with his strong yet gentle hands and his deep voice and his soft lips—

Nick yelped and gave himself a light smack on the cheek. He did not like Ghetto, he could not like Ghetto. He had a boyfriend, a boyfriend who was probably scared and alone and maybe hurting, a boyfriend who could not find out about what just happened or else—

Nick tripped and fell, scraping his hands against fallen sticks and stray rocks. He heard a tear, and he looked at his arm, noticing a small rip on the arm of Cory’s jacket. Nick gasped and hid it from view, sitting miserably on the ground, panting. “Cory,” Nick whispered, balling up his hands despite the sting. “God please come back I don't know if I can—”

And then, a splitting scream echoed through the sprawling woods, causing birds to fly away. Nick choked on air and stumbled to his feet, recognizing that voice. “CORY?” he shouted, looking around. “CORY!”

“NICK!” the voice screamed back, desperate and raspy. Nick nearly shrieked, sprinting towards the sound of Cory’s voice. “NICK I’M OVER HERE!”

“I’M COMING!” Nick’s eyes welled up with tears, but he kept running, stumbling a few times but never stopping. “STAY THERE!”

“NICK PLEASE!” The voice was getting closer, and the snow was falling faster, and there was a figure half concealed by a tree, his back to Nick, not far at all now. Nick screamed for his boyfriend, eyes blurred with tears, slowing down as he approached. He held out his hand and grabbed Cory’s arm.

“Cory I’m so—” Nick froze and recoiled when the man turned around. “I—”

“Greetings and salutations,” the man said, giggling in Cory’s voice. But he was not Cory; his hair was black, his eyes were dark blue, and he was much paler. “You are so funny!” The voice switched to what Nick assumed was the man’s normal tone. “You should see the look on your face, kid! And your voice, dear god! Listen to this, listen listen.” He took a deep breath, and this time spoke in Nick’s voice, “Cory, I’m coming! Stay there, I’m coming!”

Nick flattened himself against a tree, horrified. “Who are you?” he asked, and the man of many voices chuckled.

“Louis, kid. Call me a mimic, it’s a pleasure,” he said, holding out a hand. Nick flinched at it, and Louis raised an eyebrow. “Not a talker? Shame, well, Red sends his regards anyhow.”

Nick gasped. “Red, you’re with—”

“How do you think I got Cory’s voice down? All that screaming and shouting? Please, I had to get that from somewhere.” Louis waved a hand as Nick let out a shocked cry. “Enough funny business. Consider this a message, to hurry up before Red—”

A tall figure loomed over Louis’ shoulder, breathing out hard enough to rustle the mimic’s hair. A wolf. Louis turned, and yelped. “Oh, you must— be with him! Uh... nice doggy!” he exclaimed, laughing nervously and backing up. The wolf huffed again, and took one step forward. “Hey hey hey wait a minute! Don’t tear me to bits yet! I came to send a message! Hurry up, before Red ends the life of that puny little brat he has! You don’t have much time before that blond idiot is Red’s motherfucking dinner!”

The wolf hesitated, turning his head briefly towards Nick. Nick gasped at the familiar gray eyes, fatherly and kind. Then, Gray turned back to Louis. “If I see you back here,” Gray said, taking another step towards Louis, “I’ll tear you limb from limb. Get out of my sight.”

“Yes, dear,” Louis said in Xavier’s voice, and Gray snapped at him. He flinched and ran off, and Gray watched him go, breathing heavily. Nick pushed himself off the tree and put a hand on Gray’s side. Gray turned back to him and nudged Nick’s head with his nose.

“You okay?” Gray asked. Nick wiped his eyes, and Gray turned to his human form. He was wearing a bright orange safety vest, which he took off and draped around Nick. “You can’t run off here wearing a dull colored jacket, these are hunting woods, and you’re past my property. No need for us to be in the middle of planning to defeat two extremely powerful bad guys for you to be shot in a hunting accident. Now come on, you’re shivering, let’s get you back, and patched up.” He motioned towards Nick’s scraped up hands. Nick glanced at them and hid them.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and Gray sighed.

“Don’t be. You’re fine, let’s just get you sitting in front of the fireplace with a warm mug of hot chocolate.” Gray put a hand on Nick’s back and led him in the right direction. “I don’t know why you ran off, Ghetto couldn’t form a normal sentence, but, if he did something, let me know.”

Nick nearly tripped again, and Gray grabbed his arm. “Ghetto didn’t— do anything,” Nick said, face hot despite the cold. “I just got overwhelmed by everything, I guess. And then I heard... a voice...”

“Tricked you, huh. I didn’t hear much except the end, when he was talking like himself,” Gray said, and Nick sniffled. “Hey— we’re gonna get your boyfriend back, and he’ll be fine and he’ll say thank you thank you Major Gray for saving the day and getting me home, alright?” Nick giggled. “I’m kidding, but he will be fine.”

Nick sighed and nodded. “Thanks. I’m sorry again, for causing trouble.”

“And don’t be, again. Red and Ross are the ones causing the trouble. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling. If it were Xavier, I’d sure be acting off as hell. I’d want him back right away.” Nick looked up at Gray and felt the love coming off him. Nick glanced away, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

——

When Nick walked back in, the cabin quieted, and everyone turned to see him. Nick seemed even smaller than before, shivering from the cold and shrinking under everyone’s gazes. Gray glared back at them, inhaled, and said, “They know where we are. We ran into someone who could mimic voices, and it’s safe to assume he’s been spying and knows how to copy all of ours. No one stray far, no matter what you hear. We need to speed this up, there’s a person who... is in serious danger.”

“Why don’t we just go?” Sky hissed, and Gray winced.

“We aren’t a team—”

Sky scoffed and crossed his arms over his puffed out chest, his feathers sticking up anxiously. “I am not going to do some stupid team bonding shit, I want Ross dead.”

Nick flinched, and Yoti looked at him, leading to Shelby, Jordan, and Ghetto’s eyes being drawn to him as well. Shelby waved him over, and he looked away, staying towards Gray, someone he hasn’t let down yet. Gray noticed, and gave Xavier a look. Xavier nodded and made his way towards Nick, tapping his shoulder as the others began to argue. “Come with me, let’s fix your hands, love,” Xavier said, and Nick nodded, letting Xavier hold his sleeve gently and lead him to the bathroom. He shut the door behind them. “There. They’ve been fighting every five seconds, it’s been hard. We’re all tense.”

“I know,” Nick said, and Xavier’s pale face reddened.

“Oh— right! You know. It must be a lot to handle,” he said as he found a first aid kit in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. He opened it, set it aside, and turned on the sink. He brought Nick’s hands under the water and took a good look at them. “Cuts don’t seem too bad.”

“Yeah.” Nick watched the dirt go down the drain. “Hey, Xavier?” he asked as Xavier patted at his hands with a damp washcloth.

“Yes dear?” Xavier said, and Nick nearly shuddered, remembering Louis.

“How long have you and Gray been together? A long time?” Nick asked, and Xavier chuckled.

“Not long at all. It would’ve been sooner, really, but we said some awful things to each other, and, we weren’t in the right environment anyway. Then we didn’t talk for nine years because of it. We started dating when Gray became a werewolf, say, hmm, maybe only around a month ago. Less, really. Not long at all,” Xavier explained, and Nick frowned.

“Was he mean to you?”

Xavier turned the water off, smile fading. “Not, anymore. Nine years ago, yes, once, but we’ve talked since then. He apologized,” he said, pumping the smallest dollop of soap onto the washcloth and rubbing it in. “Things we said to each other were not—” Xavier paused, trying to word it correctly. “It wouldn’t have been good if we said those things to each other while dating. You don’t say mean things to your boyfriend.”

Nick tried to shove down the sound of Cory yelling at him, but could not. He winced as some soap dripped into one of his cuts. “But you, worked it out,” he said, and Xavier nodded. “That’s good. You two, seem like you’re in love. Like you really know it too.”

The door opened, and Gray poked his head inside. “They’ve calmed down now, Barney’s got Sky downstairs. Nick alright?” he asked, and Xavier nodded, lighting up. Gray smiled and walked inside. He put a hand on Xavier’s back. “Kiss?”

“Mhm.” Xavier lifted his head, and Gray gave him a quick peck. Nick glanced away and blushed. “Now, no more, I need to get these hands bandaged up.”

“Alright.” Gray grinned and began to leave as Xavier carefully dried Nick’s hands. Nick winced.

“Wait,” he said, and Gray looked back. “Gray. Xavier. I have a question.”

“Shoot,” Gray said, shrugging. Nick gulped.

“How do you... know?” Nick looked at his hands. Gray and Xavier glanced at each other, and then at Nick. “How do you know that what you have is... what you want?”

There was a kind of nervous look that passed over both of their faces. “Um,” Gray stuttered, “well, you should be happy, for one.”

Xavier nodded and went back to fixing up Nick’s hands, rubbing on some Neosporin with his thumb. “He should love and support you for who you are, never ask you to change. He should encourage you to accept yourself,” he added.

“He should never put you down, or call you mean names in a truly mean way,” Shark said on a different day, after being asked the same question. He pulled a meal out of the oven (Xavier was too exhausted to cook) and beamed.

“To help figure it out, communicating is a big one,” Annie said, “Like so.” She turned to Shark. “Hey, Shark, I don’t like the way you’ve been talking to me recently.”

Shark set the food down and took off his oven mitts and responded, with sub-par acting, “Oh no! I did not mean to come off that way. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, I will now work on my attitude. Respect.” He smiled and offered a thumbs up.

“He’s gotta be respectful of what you want,” Annie added, nodding. “You gotta both want the same thing when it comes to your relationship, or else it’s not... well it’s not what you want.”

“You should never be bored of him, if you really love him,” Sky said on yet another day, voice flat. Jin rolled over on the basement couch and put a pillow over his head. “You should be excited for dates and stuff, unless something else is going on or you need alone time. But don’t reject dates because of him, or you don’t really love him.”

“You gotta feel all warm and fuzzys, never afraid,” Barney said as Sky threw an arm around him. “If he makes you feel afraid of what he mights do to you, there’s something wrong theres.”

Nick sighed, and Barney frowned. Sky crossed his arms over his chest and Nick felt a flash of anger within him. Nick knew how Sky worked, now; his emotions were strong, and outwardly, he expressed most of said emotions through anger, presumably in an attempt to avoid true vulnerability. This anger, Nick noted, was led by worry... worry for a friend?

“I’m asking for a friend,” Nick said, to dispel such worries. No need for them after all, Nick was just curious. Sky raised an eyebrow.

“Well, if you ever need me to punch anyone.” He patted his own chest and walked away. Barney chuckled and put a hand on Nick’s shoulder.

“It means he cares about you,” he said, winking (Nick could tell by the slight tilt of his head when he did it) and following Sky out. Nick stood there for a while, processing (or refusing to process), as Jin rolled back over and sat up, tapping his fingers against his knees.

“Nick, right?” Jin asked, and Nick nodded. Jin flipped his hair back and got up, holding out an awkward hand. “Jin Huang, uh, it’s nice to finally meet you, Shelby’s said a lot.”

“Oh, um, yeah.” Nick shook his hand quickly. “I need to talk to her, don’t I.”

Jin sighed. “If it helps, um, she really loves you. Like really really,” he said, and Nick scoffed. Jin looked at him like he was crazy. “I’m serious. Don’t doubt it.”

Nick did, tilting his head and looking away. Jin, his small box of kind words having emptied for the day, sighed at Nick’s stubbornness and left him alone in the basement. Nick turned and watched him go, as the dead silence of the basement washed over him. It was significantly colder down there, and Nick shivered, stealing Jin’s blanket for a second and sitting on the couch. He took a deep breath.

_Hey. Shelby._

_Nick!_ Her tone sounded so relieved. _How are you? I— that’s a dumb question, isn’t it. Sorry._

_Don’t apologize, I should be apologizing. I meant to talk earlier, I really did, but I kind of got carried away thinking about things, but it just came back around full circle, to you. I’m sorry for ignoring you._

“There you are.” Shelby smiled at the edge of the stairs, and Nick stood up. “Thought it would be better not to exhaust you with talking in your head. In case it takes a while,” he said, and Nick nodded, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself.

“Yeah.”

“And I uh, I want you to know that I could never be mad at you. Well, about anything serious,” Shelby said, walking up to him and holding out her hand. Nick held it, and he realized that her anger, and maybe the anger of the others too, was not directed at him like everyone was telling him.

“I never meant to run off with Cory for that long, I meant to keep talking to you, I really did, and then I just got worried that you were mad at me for not staying with you and then I didn’t talk to you and then I just— I’m sorry, I’m so so so sorry,” Nick rambled, tearing up. Shelby gave him a hug, and he sniffled into her shoulder. “I don’t want to shut you out again, I finally have you and other people who I care about and I don’t want to ruin that again, how do I keep myself from ruining it?”

Shelby sighed and held him closer. “Nick, it’s up to you. All of it. I can help you, of course, but there may be some things you need to realize on your own.”

“And one of them is the fact that you’re... not mad,” Nick whispered, looking at Shelby with wide eyes.

“Probably, yeah. No one is mad at you. They all love you, dude, I love you. I will always love you. I don’t know what was going on at Cory’s house, and you don’t have to explain yourself if you don’t want to, but just know that I’ll be here, Yoti will be here, all that.” Shelby cracked a smile. “We’re together now, and all of this is gonna be over soon, and we’ll be siblings with the best sibling relationship ever. We can do stuff, without worrying about Red. We can, like, go shopping, and I’ll be totally honest, no bullshit. And we can watch movies and have sleepovers and talk about crushes, y’know?”

“I have a boyfriend,” Nick said (maybe a little bit to himself), and Shelby rolled her eyes.

“You know what I mean. We can talk about your boyfriend and my girlfriend and spill shit about them, it’ll be great,” Shelby said. Nick was grinning now.

“Your future girlfriend.”

Shelby shuffled closer. “Jess is totally into me,” she whispered, and they both snickered, and for a moment they were just teenagers, and nothing more.

“Tell me everything, catch me up,” Nick said, and they sat on the couch, kicking their feet up and talking. It felt nice to forget about everything for a second, make comments about the others and make fun of them a little (a lot). They missed Gray’s meeting that day, but they didn’t mind.

While Nick showed Shelby around his room, Sky was shoving marshmallows into his mouth out back, sitting by a fire with his sister, his father, his boyfriend, and acquaintances Uni, AK, and Shark, as they made s’mores and subconsciously pretended it was all just a camping trip.

“I have one question for you Luciano,” Shark said, leaning forward. “Why can’t you float, and shit, like AK can, if you’re both immortal.”

Uni scoffed and took a sip of his beer. Sky raised his eyebrows, and Katrina rolled her eyes. “Wait yeah, how are you immortal in the first place, actually? You couldn’t have been born with it,” Sky asked, and Luciano glanced around for a moment, as if looking for someone.

“Okay.” He sat up straight and smirked like he was glad someone finally asked him for his Backstory. “There are some differences between me and AK.”

“I’m technically more undead than immortal,” AK said, and Luciano nodded. “My leading theory is, I’m a vampire. Something bit me, my heart stopped beating, and I liked the taste of blood and raw meat all of a sudden! Luciano, well,” he held a hand out to Luciano, “go ahead.”

“I became immortal at 27 because a witch cursed me,” Luciano said, and Sky stopped mid-chew. Uni hit Luciano’s shoulder.

“Ey, not just any witch, tell ‘em the kicker!” Uni exclaimed, and Luciano grinned at him.

“A girl named Sona Lynx did it.”

The group fell silent for a while as Luciano revelled in their reactions. Shark swallowed a bite of a s’more and gasped, “You’re fucking kidding. Lynx like Nick and Shelby Lynx.”

“The resemblance is uncanny, I’m terrified of that girl!” Luciano exclaimed, laughing it off. Sky grit his teeth and looked down at his red Converses. He didn’t know what he expected of his father, really, he had a feeling it was some kind of curse. Some kind of fuck-up on his part.

“Why were you cursed?” he asked, and Luciano’s smile twitched slightly. “It couldn’t have been anything good.”

“I...” Luciano tried to laugh, but couldn’t. “I cheated at poker, took her cash. And back then I was, way worse, in general,” he said, and Sky nodded slowly. Barney put a hand on his back. “It was like, if you wanna live like a dick how about you live forever and see how you like it, that kind of deal.”

“And?” Sky looked Luciano right in the eyes, and Luciano scoffed, tapping his fingertips against each other, fingers spread out.

“It was fun. Until it wasn’t.” Sky grinned and got up. “Oh, fuck, Sky. Adam.”

“Well, at the very least, me coming around helped you realize that eternal life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Sky said, backing away. “I’m going to bed.”

He turned and walked the long way around the house, and then the air cooled, and Sky sighed.

“I don’t think he meant it the way you think he did,” Cal said, and Sky glared at him. He held up his hands and walked silently next to Sky for a few moments. He looked up and tilted his head. “Barney’s gonna come, he’s a better listener. Be nice.”

Sky looked over, and he was gone, and the air was just slightly warmer. “Sky,” Barney called, jogging up to him. Sky stopped walking and turned towards him, waiting for him to catch up. “You okay?”

“I don’t know,” Sky said, walking again. Barney offered his hand, and Sky took it. “It’s been weird lately, my dad and I. I haven’t been yelling at him and he hasn’t really been doing anything that makes me mad so we were kind of like in this limbo, I guess? But like, all that curse stuff, kind of reminded me of everything. I just want to— not be around him for a second. I have a lot on my mind.”

“Yeah, of course. We can go lay down in our room, eh?” Barney said, squeezing Sky’s hand and swinging it to and fro. Sky chuckled and nodded.

“I can’t be mad when you’re around, can I,” he joked.

“Tis forbidden.” Barney opened the front door for Sky and they walked inside. “Powers-wise, have you been okay?”

“I’ve been alright, I think,” Sky said as they walked to the basement. “Ross hasn’t done anything, recently, at least, I haven’t sensed anything. But without that feather I feel so unbalanced. I’m afraid to even use any of my powers. That’s probably a good thing, anyway.” He laid down on the blow up mattress and stuck his hands under his head. Barney followed suit, wrapping his arm around Sky’s waist. Sky moved one hand and pulled Barney closer.

“Talk to me,” Barney urged, and Sky scoffed.

“I’ve said enough.”

“You keep a lot in. I care for you.” Barney kissed Sky’s cheek, and Sky turned his head and gave Barney a kiss back.

“I promise I’m okay, I just want to get this over with, and then I’ll be peachy, alright? Ross just needs to die. I can’t kill him with my powers, not while he has the feather, not while he’s this powerful. We need to get to that abandoned prison he’s at, and quick,” Sky hissed, and Barney sighed. “I need to make up for...” Sky trailed off, and cleared his throat, holding Barney tighter.

Barney lifted his head. “You couldn’t have done anything about my eye,” he said, and Sky shook his head. “Sky. You need to listen to me. I don’t blame you.”

“I blame myself, then, Barney, I... dammit, I don’t like when bad things happen because of me.” Sky sat up and covered his face with his hands. Barney hugged him from behind, and they both laid back down, Sky grabbing Barney’s arms and pulling them further around him.

“Breathe,” Barney said, and Sky did, very quickly. “Sky— come on.”

“Okay.” Sky took a deep breath. “Okay.”

“I love you, angel, I love you,” Barney said, “and nothing will ever stop me.”

Sky cracked a smile. “I love you too. God, I’m just fucked up, aren’t I?”

“You have some healing to do,” Barney mumbled, his voice quieter. He was tired. He pulled out both their ponytails and placed the hair ties aside. “You’re amazing, though, and you’re gonna be okay, and I’ll always be here to help, anyway.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Sky said, and Barney chuckled at that before he went quiet and dozed off. Sky grabbed a blanket that was in reach and pulled it over them, sighing and settling into sleep.

——

Gray was jotting down a list when Nick wandered over, hands in his pockets. A few days had passed since he’d made up with Shelby, and even longer since... The Event That Should Not Be Spoken Of. Nick was frazzled, but recovering, and hadn’t spoken to Ghetto.

Gray glanced up for a moment, and flashed a smile. “Hey, Nick,” he said, ruffling Nick’s hair. “How have you been.”

“Umm, fine,” Nick mumbled, and Gray looked at him again with that fatherly concern that Nick had become accustomed to.

“Would you maybe, want to get out of the cabin for a little while, and get some groceries? It would be a nice change of scenery, for you,” Gray suggested, and Nick raised his eyebrows. He wouldn’t mind spending some time in town with Gray, get away from the cramped cabin for a while.

“Sure,” he said, and Gray nodded, ripping the list off the notepad and holding it out. Nick reached out and grabbed it.

“Shark, AK, Ghetto!” Gray called, and Nick’s eyes went wide. The three men emerged promptly, standing next to each other. Ghetto looked away, hands clasped behind his back. Gray pulled out his wallet and thumbed through some cash. “Go with Nick to get groceries, alright? I’d go, but I have to do some stuff around here. Be back before dark, don’t draw too much attention to yourselves. You’re four friends on a hunting trip, you’re just stocking up, affirmative?”

The three nodded, and started to walk towards the door. Nick was still frozen. Gray raised an eyebrow and put a hand on his back. “That alright, kid?” he asked.

No it is not, no no no no god no.

Nick forced a smile. “Yeah,” he breathed, squeezing the grocery list tight in his hand. “Perfect.”

“Those three won’t let anything happen to you, go on now, take this cash, and,” Gray tugged out an extra fifty dollars, “get yourself something, if you want. Anything.”

“Thank you.” Nick took the money and nodded to Gray as he walked out, seeing his three new bodyguards walking towards Shark’s dark blue Nissan. Nick noticed Ghetto begin to open his mouth, but AK raised his hand high.

“Shotgun!” he shouted, and Ghetto winced. Nick sighed, and shut his eyes for a moment. Then, he shook it off and walked towards the car. He climbed into the backseat, shut the door, and leaned his head on the window. Ghetto pressed himself to the other side of the car, messing with his hands.

“Hey, AK, let Nick choose the music,” Shark said as he turned the car on and buckled his seatbelt. AK grunted, but didn’t object. He turned on the radio.

“Tell me when, alright?” He moved through the channels, and Nick waited, and waited, until a song he liked came on.

“There,” he said on reflex, but after listening to it for a few more seconds it set in; it was a love song. Nick let out a small distressed noise and smiled as Shark started driving, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel and nodding slightly to the beat. The dirt road was rocky, and Nick could feel Shark’s mild anxiety about driving on such rough terrain for the second time in his life, especially in snow, and in a place where there could be deer to hit. He focused on that, rather than Ghetto’s trademark static, as they jostled around. At least, until the car hit a bump in the road, and Nick gasped and reached for Ghetto’s arm for balance. Ghetto held onto Nick’s arm in return, to help keep him steady. They both glanced at each other for a moment, and then they recoiled. Nick moved his hand back to his lap and Ghetto tensed up, letting out a very loud breath and leaning back. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

Shark inhaled. “Soo, um, Seaport huh? One of my cousins lives in Seaport, I wonder if you’ve seen her,” he said in a futile attempt to lessen the tension.

“Is her name Dolphin?” AK asked, chuckling at his own joke and hitting Shark’s arm. Shark grunted at him.

“Says the one who calls himself AK.” Shark pulled up to the main road and checked for cars before turning onto it. “Her name is Kara.”

“That seems— familiar,” Nick said, glad to be on an actual road.

“Once this is all over maybe you can introduce us. Jordan and I will be moving back into my house in Seaport for real, once Red is...” Ghetto stole a glance at Nick. “Y’know. No more Greenfield motel rooms for us, if there’s no one to hide from.”

There’s always someone to hide from, Nick thought, but he didn’t dare say it aloud.

“I’ll go back to Seaport too. It’s quiet there, I liked it,” AK mumbled, really focused on his zipper.

“Well, the only plans I have are to get back to my classes,” Shark said, scoffing. “That seems so weird now. One day I’m facing two deadly villains, and then? Midterms.”

“I feel like that’s just cryptid life, man,” Ghetto snickered, loosening up a little. “We always get roped up in the weirdest shit, I’m telling you.”

Shark sighed. “I hope nothing like this happens again, I really can’t miss any more school,” he said, and Ghetto nodded. Shark glanced in the rear view mirror. “But for what it’s worth, I don’t wanna lose touch with you guys. I think we’d make a good team.”

Nick smiled a little, and Ghetto looked at him, mesmerized. Nick looked back at him, and he looked away.

“Holy shit, the Shark’s being genuine,” AK teased, and Shark rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, man, I just think you guys, and most of the others over there, are pretty cool.” Shark paused, trying to recall Gray’s directions. “Turn left at... alright. Hey, wait, what about you, Nick? You gonna stay in Seaport?”

Nick looked down at his hands. “Um, yeah, probably. My um— boyfriend, he’s in the apartment right next to mine, so I mean, where else would I go,” he said, his voice quiet. Never mind the fact that the idea of going back into that apartment made him shudder— for whatever reason.

Shark’s voice seemed uncertain. “Right... well you’re always welcome in Greenfield.”

“No I’m not,” Nick said without realizing it. He stuttered as AK and Ghetto looked at him oddly, along with Shark through the rear view mirror. “Oh, um, there’s just someone, someone I don’t like in Greenfield. A little falling out, it’s nothing, nothing at all. That’s what I mean.”

Ghetto’s eyes narrowed as Shark nodded his head. “Oh, I see.”

Nick offered a single nod and a quiet apology. He went back to looking out the window and thinking. Rich in Greenfield, and Red in Seaport and... god, why did Nick feel so cornered? Without Red, Seaport would be safe again, right?

“We’re getting close,” Shark said, peering at the buildings further up the road.

——

Uni came back into the cabin once his cigarette was spent, feeling a little more relaxed. Gray was doing the dishes (poorly) in an attempt to ease Xavier’s workload. Uni scoffed and walked up to him. “Surprised you sent the Lynx kid out with those three and not yourself. You seem quite attached,” he said, punching Gray’s arm. Gray only sighed at him. Uni leaned on the counter and continued, “They don’t seem to know, those twins, then. You caught a lucky break, now you can play dad for a little while.”

“You’re an asshole,” Gray said, setting a plate on the drying rack. “I’m not playing dad, I’m making sure a hurt kid feels as comfortable as he can in this shitshow. Twenty, Uni.”

“I’m aware, I’m aware.” Uni raised his hands and backed off a bit. “For what it’s worth, I heard the stories, word got ‘round about, y’know. The incident two years ago.” Gray paused. “I considered giving you a call, but I figured my voice was the last one you wanted to hear, in a time like that.”

“Damn right.” Gray dropped the sponge into the sink and wiped his hands with a towel.

“Woulda been nineteen by now,” Uni said, and Gray shook his head.

“Twenty.”

Uni shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. Well, just be careful about Nick, y’know. He’s not the same kid.” He nodded to Gray and walked off, passing a tired looking Jordan. “Mornin’ kid,” he said to the weretiger, and then he was gone, making his way up to the attic.

Jordan stood at the edge of the kitchen, wrapped tightly in a blanket, saying nothing for the longest time as Gray went back to the dishes. His ears flattened and his tail was low, but he shuffled over anyway, reaching out a shaky hand and tapping Gray’s arm. Gray turned his head, and Jordan stepped back. “Oh, hey, I didn’t notice you,” Gray said, and Jordan raised his shoulders. “Hey, don’t be afraid, or anything, I can help with whatever you want.”

“I just wanted to ask where Ghetto was?” Jordan mumbled, and Gray perked up.

“Oh, he’s out with Nick, Shark, and AK getting groceries, he’ll be back soon, I bet,” Gray said, and Jordan let out a giggle.

“Oh brother,” he said, rolling his eyes. Gray smirked at him.

“What, you think those four are gonna cause a ruckus?” Gray asked, and Jordan shrugged.

“Maybe.” Jordan sat on the counter and kicked his feet. “They’re a real funny bunch.”

“So Ghetto raised you, huh?” Gray asked, and Jordan nodded.

“His uncle too, sometimes, but I don’t remember that part, really. I know Ghetto isn’t really my dad but he also... he is. My tiger mom and dad, they didn’t make it, because, y’know.” Jordan glanced away, and Gray winced.

“I’m— sorry,” Gray said. “I know it doesn’t make up for, anything, me saying that.”

Jordan looked back at him with wide eyes. “You’re gonna take care of Ross, at least, y’know? And you left, too, you told the truth. And I know that sometimes people can... really convince you of something that isn’t right. You did a lot of bad things, and you gotta live with it, but I guess... I guess I appreciate the effort,” he explained, and Gray smiled.

“You’re a good kid.”

“Sure am,” Jordan joked. Gray lifted his hand, and Jordan gave him a high five.

“Gray,” Jin said as he approached, his eyes grim. Jordan took note of the serious tone and waved goodbye to Gray, hopping off the counter and wandering towards the basement to find a puzzle to work on. Gray crossed his arms over his chest and nodded to Jin. “I was looking through Xavier’s notes, because he said earlier that he couldn’t find anything like Red, but I wanted to take another look.”

“And?” Gray pressed, hopeful. Jin shook his head.

“I didn’t find anything either. Whatever Red’s species is, they’ve taken lots of care to hide themselves,” Jin explained, and Gray pressed his fingers to his temples.

“Why do you always have to bring the bad news, Jin, can you please for once say something good,” Gray grumbled, and Jin shook his head.

“Not right now. We have no clue how to kill him for sure, but I’ve seen Shelby’s katana in action, it really is our best bet, I’d say. Chopping off the head would at least buy us some time, probably, so we can all get machetes, or some shit like that, see what happens.” Jin shrugged. Gray scoffed.

“See what happens, great plan. See what happens!” He covered his face and groaned. “Why isn’t Xavier helping you?”

“He’s... expanding his knowledge. Asking people questions outside,” Jin said, and Gray parted his fingers to reveal his eyes.

“What.”

——

Four cryptids walked into a grocery store. It was nearly empty aside from some hunters bragging about shooting game. They all seemed to know each other, and Nick wondered if they knew Gray too.

“Okay. We are normal. Four normal men looking for...” Shark paused and looked at Nick, who gasped and checked the list.

“Lettuce,” he said, and Shark shot him a finger gun.

“Lettuce, of course. Let’s stock up.” Shark rubbed his hands together and looked around. Ghetto grabbed a shopping cart and pushed it along as they got what they needed. The tension began to dissolve as time passed, and the cart got full quick, especially when they approached the snack aisles. They each kept insisting on adding a snack they liked to the list, and Nick, remembering the extra fifty dollars, didn’t object. The three of them were being quite nice, anyway, and Gray said he could use the extra money for anything he wanted.

“Do you think Gray would be mad if we came back with ice cream?” Shark asked, and Ghetto shook his head.

“We shouldn’t go too far over the budget or else we’ll have to chip in, and I really don’t want to. We got our snacks,” Ghetto said, and Shark nodded. “Hey Nick, is this everything?”

Nick and Ghetto made genuine eye contact for the first time in days. Nick smiled as their gazes lingered on each other before looking down to the list. “Umm, this is everything and a little more! I think we’re good,” Nick said, and Ghetto smirked.

“Nice. Let’s get back, I feel like Jordan’s wondering where I am right now.” Ghetto pushed the cart towards the self-checkout and Nick walked next to him, feeling a bit less like being around Ghetto was the end of the world.

“I never really did get a chance to talk to Jordan for more than a little bit, is he alright?” Nick asked. Ghetto stepped back from the cart as Shark began to scan things, shoving his hands in his pockets and sighing.

“He’s not the best he’s ever been, with everything going on, but he’s hanging in there. He’s really glad you’re okay,” Ghetto said, softening his voice. Nick looked up at him, admiring him... for his parental skills, that is. He glanced away after a couple seconds and watched the price on the screen go up with each item that Shark scanned. He pulled out the money and counted. They turned out to still have thirty five dollars to spare.

“Should we save it so that Gray can have his money back?” Nick asked, and AK waved him off.

“Didn’t he give you that money for you? What do you wanna do with it?”

Nick tilted his head in thought.

——

The snow was no longer falling outside the cabin, and many people preferred the outdoors to the cabin itself, considering how many people were crammed inside it. Shelby especially liked to train, and occasionally get some attention from the Professor.

“So your mom was a witch and your dad was a telepath.”

Shelby smirked as she chewed her gum. “Yes.”

Xavier’s eyes were wide with wonder. “And you ended up as an earth elemental and your brother an empath.” He scoffed and put a hand on his head. “Cryptid genetics elude me! Tell me more. Tell me everything. Tell me—”

“Xavier. Honey.” Gray emerged and jogged up to Xavier, grabbing his shoulders and briefly smiling at Shelby. “Can I borrow you for just a moment, please.”

“Oh, okay,” Xavier stuttered, and Gray pulled him away. “What’s up?”

“You need to calm down, you look like you’re on drugs,” Gray said, and Xavier blinked.

“I do? I’m not.” Xavier spoke quickly. “Hey how do you think a witch and a telepath could wind up with an empath and—”

“Xavier. I love love love how you want to, like, know things and all, but they’re gonna start getting annoyed if you pester them enough, I’m looking at Sky especially,” Gray said, the last part through grit teeth. He cupped Xavier’s face with his gloved hands. “Can we calm down?”

Xavier nodded, cupping Gray’s face in return. “Yes we can,” he said. “I could use a drink anyway, if you want to go inside.”

“Sounds good.” Gray gave Xavier a quick kiss and ushered him inside, just as Sky and Barney walked out, looking for Jess.

“Where Shelby is, Jess is always near,” Sky whispered to Barney, pointing to Jess, who was sitting on the bench. The two boys snickered and shuffled over. She sighed when they sat on either side of her, both grinning at her and holding up their chins with their hands.

“You better watch what you say,” Jess said, but she already knew her words were futile, as she’d heard what they were going to say to her before they even said it.

“You should talk to her,” Sky suggested, and Jess rolled her eyes.

“Not right now.”

“Jet come on,” Barney urged, holding his hand out. “She is beautiful, and you have a lot in common.”

“No, I know that, dipshits,” Jess said, glancing at Shelby. “I mean not right now like not in the middle of this situation. I’m not like Sky, I don’t just blurt out my feelings at inconvenient times, I have just a little more dignity.”

“Barely more dignity,” Sky corrected, and Jess hit him in the arm. “Owie!”

“I don’t need you two losers to help me ask a girl out, I can do it on my own. Once we aren’t fighting Red and Ross, and she isn’t so... stressed out. And once I’m not so stressed out,” Jess said, and Sky pouted.

“Fiiine, fine. Ask her out whenever you want, of course. Or maybe she’ll ask you out first. You never know!” Sky grinned, and Jess rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

——

Nick, Ghetto, Shark, and AK came back from their day trip with friendship bracelets. They weren’t the prettiest sight— they were tacky, made of leather strips that were braided together in various patterns, obviously meant for the tourist crowd— but it was the thought that counted.

Jordan ran upstairs from the basement at the sound of their voices, and hugged Ghetto. “Aww, kiddo, come ‘ere.” Ghetto hugged back and ruffled Jordan’s curls. “You miss me?”

“Only a little, I missed Nick more,” Jordan said, holding out an arm to Nick, who blushed and waved him off. “No, join the hug!”

“O-Oh,” Nick whispered, smiling awkwardly. Ghetto hummed as Nick came forward and wrapped an arm around Jordan. Ghetto lightly patted Nick on the back.

The hug finally broke, and Nick snuck away, and Ghetto crossed his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow at Jordan. “You happy?” he asked, and Jordan grinned.

“Yep! Very.”

——

“I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

Sky and Cal were sitting on the roof of the cabin late at night. The next day, the group would be finalizing the plan, and the day after that they’d go, and hopefully not die in the process.

“This is what I don’t get about you and Jess. If you can see the future, why can’t you warn us about everything? Why couldn’t all of this have been averted, or why can’t you tell us where to go, what to do?” Sky asked, and Cal let out a chuckle.

“Future powers are always iffy at best, especially when you’re half human, or second generation, or you... went through something. Mental powers are malleable. My powers, and Jess’ too, are more for quick, fight-like situations. We get a few moments notice, in order to block attacks, and such. I don’t know about Jess, but I trained a lot with my dad, so that’s how my powers kind of manifested,” Cal explained. “And on that note, powers can also be affected by mental health, what you’re thinking about, all that. If you’re super stressed and really focused on something, your powers are less likely to work. Same if, um—” Cal paused, and flashes of blood and rain and red manifested. Sky put a hand on Cal’s shoulder, and he calmed down, shaking his head. “Same if you’re, ha, intoxicated.”

Sky looked at his hands, and processed. “You seem so unlike Gray, in some ways. A rebel, I guess. Punk rock, dyed hair?”

“Ha! Yeah, I guess so. He’s a good dad, but I was a teenager, and he was really protective. I ended up lashing out a bit, sometimes. Doing things I shouldn’t have done. But he just loved me, I don’t know what I was so... bothered by. He loved me.” Cal sniffled and covered his face with his hands, shaking his head. Sky sighed and gave Cal a side hug.

“You have the right to be bothered by something he did. Nothing that happened was your fault, I’m sure of it. You seem like a good person, you shouldn’t be trapped here like this,” Sky reassured. “I want to help, I don’t know how.”

“It’s fine, don’t even worry about it. I’ll figure it out eventually,” Cal said. “What you need to worry about is Ross and—” He paused and looked off into the distance. “Oh, she’s back.”

“What?” Sky followed Cal’s gaze, and saw a faint figure, a girl. He started to stand. “What. Who—”

“Sit down— she watches Nick,” Cal whispered, pulling Sky down. “I’ve tried to talk to her, but I can’t, she gets afraid and goes away. Might be his ancestor or sum’n.”

“Why can’t I see her as well as you? She looks so faint,” Sky said, mimicking Cal’s hushed tone.

“I think that the longer a ghost has been dead, the more distorted they look. I think you should go inside, Nick and Uni are about to have a serious talk and if he catches you up here listening he’ll pummel you,” Cal urged, and Sky nodded.

“Point taken, see you later, man,” Sky said, and Cal saluted before disappearing. All of a sudden, Sky could see Uni smoking right outside the cabin. He took Cal’s word for it, and dove to the other side of the cabin, fluttering down easily and sneaking inside, eager to get back to Barney.

Nick walked outside, and the moment Uni saw him he put out his cigarette on a cup he’d been holding and breathed out away from Nick. “Hey, sorry ‘bout the smoke, I’m getting back into a bad habit,” he said, and Nick shrugged it off. The wind took the smell of smoke away fairly quickly, but bad memories still played in the back of his head.

“I hope you don’t mind, um, your feelings were really strong, and then you went outside, and I couldn’t help but be kinda worried. But you just seem like you’re getting some air,” Nick said, and Uni looked down at him. “Sorry, I just feel like if I have these powers, I should help people out, sometimes.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s no problem. I was having a bad night, sure.” Uni looked off into the dark woods and squinted. “You’re a nice kid, you know that? Didn’t expect it, but you’re a nice kid.”

Nick raised his eyebrows and blinked a couple times. “I— guess—”

“Too nice,” Uni clarified. “Word of advice to you, never let anyone betray you. You don’t deserve to be betrayed.”

“Do you think that you deserved it?” Nick asked, and Uni froze. “Because you didn’t. I-I’m really sorry, but I just— whoever it was, who did all that to you, um, I didn’t catch a name, or a face, but they shouldn’t have done that, and if they were your friend then... that’s especially not good, I guess.”

“You got all that by the way I was feeling?” Uni asked, and Nick nodded.

“You’ll get your chance to get back at Red for being a part of it. And you’ll get your chance to get back at the person themself, as well, one day,” Nick reassured. “Though, revenge isn’t my favorite thing in the world.”

“Now that, I can tell,” Uni chuckled. “Don’t ever worry about someone like me, alright? Hell, what happened to me was probably karma anyway. Ironic, you will become the very thing you sought to destroy bullshit. But pardon me if I’m still a little fucking pissed off that that stupid, scrawny son of a bitch, that sorry excuse for a man was able to—” He stopped, and let out a laugh, a hand on his chest. “I’ll find him one day. And he won’t be happy to see me, I promise you that, Nick. He won’t be happy to see me.”

Nick shuddered at Uni’s rage, his twisted resolve. Uni was smirking, canines sharp, and his feelings were so powerful that Nick’s mouth twitched upward for a moment, before he gasped and covered his mouth. Uni’s smirk broke and he looked at Nick again. “Nick.”

“I’m okay,” Nick said, holding out a hand and backing up. “I’m going to bed, maybe you should too.”

“I will.” Uni watched as Nick went back inside, feeling oddly guilty.

——

“Okay, one more time,” Gray said, taking a deep breath. “Tomorrow. We go into the prison during the day, based on the assumption that Red prefers the night. Jin and Xavier do a warding check, and we count on AK, Shelby, and Sky to kill Ross’ experiments, but everyone else can help distract. All of this is... assuming they can’t be saved.”

“I’ll know for sure if we encounter one,” Nick said, and Gray nodded.

“Right. We don’t split up, Red has followers and Ross has his experiments, we’ll be safer in numbers, weakest in the middle. We’ll locate our missing person, and... make a decision on what to do based on how injured he is. If he can walk, and help us, that would be ideal, but if not we may have to end up setting aside some people to make sure he’s safe. Then, we go after the bad guys,” Gray recited, his hands behind his back. “I bought us some machetes and flashlights, and earned myself some weird looks. That might at least buy us some time with Red, but the goal is to get him with Shelby’s katana, and since only she can wield it we need to make sure she remains protected at all costs. As for Ross.”

Sky narrowed his eyes as Gray went on. “We’re counting on Sky or Shelby to do the deed. I have a feeling he won’t just off us immediately, he likes to fuck with people, and that might actually be an advantage to us. If we can catch him off guard in the middle of some stupid monologue I bet we could get him.”

“I’ve tried to cause a tragedy that relates to him, and I can’t, so he probably can’t cause one against me, either. I have a fighting chance,” Sky said.

“Yeah.” Gray looked at all the people he’d come to know, and he sighed. “No casualties, alright? You have to live, to pay me back for all the things I’ve bought for you.”

There were a few morbid chuckles, and Gray scoffed, right before he remembered something. “Oh, and Luciano, you’re staying back with Jordan. Call the mother of your children, she should linger here too. If someone comes for Jordan you two will be there, at least.” Luciano opened his mouth, and Gray held up a finger. “It is not debatable. If you don’t call Maya and we come back and she’s not here I will strangle you. I don’t trust you alone with a child considering your track record, and neither does Ghetto, but I also just plain don’t want you at the prison with us, so I gave you this job. I don’t care if she hates you, you will call her.”

Uni patted Luciano on the back, grinning. Luciano was stuttering. “I’d like to help my kids—”

“I planned on leaving you with others as well but each of them have something to bring to the mission, and the less vulnerable people we have to keep an eye on, the better. Ross’ monsters can kill you and you have no powers or insight. I’m not in the mood to be polite,” Gray said, and Luciano shut his mouth.

“Get a good night’s rest, everyone, prepare, pray, I don’t know. We leave tomorrow, first light, it’s a bit of a drive,” Gray declared, and then everyone spoke amongst themselves. Ghetto was scratching Jordan’s back soothingly when he noticed Nick slip into his room. Ghetto sighed and put his hand on Jordan’s cheek.

“You gonna be okay, tiger? Can I go talk to someone for a minute?” Ghetto asked, and Jordan nodded. “Hang in there, I’ll be right back.”

Ghetto got up, and crossed the room, glancing at Gray to make sure he wasn’t looking before darting into the hall and knocking on Nick’s door. “Nick, hey, can we talk? I’d appreciate it.”

There was silence on the other side of the door for a few seconds, and Ghetto could feel himself start to sweat, eyeing Gray nervously. Then, the door opened, and Ghetto was grabbed by the hand and pulled inside the room. Nick shut the door behind him. “Ghetto.”

“Nick, I want us to talk before we go out there,” Ghetto said, holding out his arms. “Just in case... well, never mind.”

“Don’t even think things like that,” Nick said, and Ghetto sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“But— I have to, Nick. This is serious, really serious. I can’t even believe you’re going,” he said, the worry pouring off him. Nick stepped back, uncertain.

“He’s my boyfriend, I have to go.”

“I— I get that. I get that. But, about him, and about...” Ghetto motioned between him and Nick, wincing. “I— Nick—” He let out a shaky sigh and said, “I have feelings— I— god I’m not a fucking homewrecker, I don’t mean to be, I just— thought you should know the truth, and I’m sorry I kissed you.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Nick whispered before he realized it. He gasped and covered his mouth. Ghetto stared, mouth hung open, like he was frozen in place. Nick was shaking. “I— I mean, because I mean, it was an impulse kiss and all, and if you do have, have feelings for me then I mean, I don’t know what you thought was going through my head, if you misread something, it was an honest mistake really, an honest mistake and it’s okay, you don’t have to be sorry abou...” he trailed off and gulped.

Ghetto cleared his throat, and let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t mean to freak you out even more. I freaked you out even more, didn’t I,” he said, fussing with his sleeves. “I’m so sorry.”

“Ghetto,” Nick stepped closer. The static was beginning to clear. Ghetto was mumbling to himself now, his hand on his head. “Ghetto. Hey. Ghetto.” Nick poked him.

“Nick I’m so sorry,” Ghetto breathed, and Nick grabbed his arms.

“I said don’t be.” Nick’s voice was sweet, and calm, and before either of them knew it they were leaning in. They kissed for the second time, and as the static cleared even more Nick could feel it, warm and new and good. Was it possible, perhaps, that Ghetto’s static-like feeling was something like love for Nick the whole time? Nick indulged in the thought for a moment, as Ghetto’s hands slinked around his waist and pulled him closer. He was warm, and a little shaky, but his touch was light, and respectful, and Nick felt so safe in his arms; he always had. The kiss went deeper than the last one, and it would’ve gone on much longer had it not been for the door swinging open, with Gray in the doorway. Nick yelped and Ghetto turned around, seeing his whole life flash before his eyes.

Gray stared, silently, for a few dreadful seconds. Nick and Ghetto both stared back, still holding onto each other. Then, Gray raised his arm, pointed at Ghetto, and then at the door. Ghetto got the hint, nodded, and ducked out.

“Oh my god,” Nick breathed, still frozen. “Oh my god, again. Oh my god it happened again!”

“Again,” Gray said, kicking the door shut. Nick let out a whine that turned into a cry, turning away and leaning over. Gray’s eyes softened, and he ran forward, grabbing Nick before he fell. “Hey, hey hey hey hey.”

“I can’t—” Nick wheezed, slumping down. Gray lowered Nick to the ground and had him sit against the bed. Nick put his head in his hands and let out a sob. “Please god— don’t let anyone— don’t let them in— they heard me. They heard me oh my god—”

“I won’t, I won’t,” Gray said, but Yoti’s voice and the scratching on the door make him jump anyway.

_Nick??? Nick, are you alright?_

Gray didn’t want to yell, so he shut his eyes and tried something he’d been wondering about. _Doesn’t want anyone to see him,_ he thought, reaching out to Yoti through some canine connection bullshit he figured he might have.

_Major? How— I’ll... wait outside._

Gray let out a breath he was holding in. “Nick, calm down, deep breaths,” Gray said, moving Nick’s head. “Look at me, look at me and take deep breaths alright? Come on, you and me both.”

Gray inhaled, and Nick tried to follow, tears falling. After a few tries, Nick got hold of the rhythm. Gray sat next to Nick, covering his face with his hands. “Say the word, and I’ll kill him,” he mumbled, pressing the back of his head to the bed frame. Nick shook his head and wiped his eyes.

“No, don’t— I don’t know what happened, but it wasn’t like that. He’s a nice guy,” Nick said, slouching a bit more.

“So... okay, I think I get it,” Gray said, nodding. “I think I get it.”

“Can you please tell me, because I don’t,” Nick whimpered, sniffling. Gray sighed and held out his arm. Nick scooted closer and leaned on him.

“Nick, I have to be honest with you, this is the kind of thing I am least qualified to give advice on,” Gray said, and Nick let out a pathetic laugh. “That being said. We have a lot on our plates tomorrow. I think, that it would be a good idea to wait on this. Let’s get your boyfriend back alive, right, and then you and him and Ghetto can deal with the rest of, all that. I’m available if you’d prefer a witness to the conversation who... isn’t your sister, or your lifetime magical canine guardian. Does that sound alright?”

Nick nodded, and Gray pulled him closer. “I’m such a bad person, aren’t I,” Nick said, still shaking. Gray shook his head.

“I don’t think you’re a bad person, I really don’t. Love is complicated, and I don’t think anyone really has it down all the way. But I think right now it’s the lesser of the two evils,” Gray reassured, and Nick covered his hands with his sleeves, wiping more tears from his eyes. “It’ll all work itself out, I mean, in my experience it has.”

Nick nodded, and Gray got up, dusting off his pants. “Wait, Gray,” Nick said, holding out a hand. Gray raised his eyebrows. “Did you see Ghetto come in?”

Gray shook his head. “No, um, I just kind of felt something, or picked up some scent, or... I don’t even know how to explain it. I just wanted to check on you to find out what was going on,” he explained, shrugging. Nick hummed, and shrugged back. Gray placed a comforting hand on Nick’s head before he walked out of the room, opening the door for Yoti, who rushed in and asked Nick if he was alright. Shelby followed suit, and Gray left them alone.

“Where’s Ghetto,” Gray said, his voice loud enough to cease the chatter in the cabin entirely. The group of people parted to reveal the shapeshifter, who was attempting to hide behind Shark and AK.

“Oh Jesus fuck,” Ghetto hissed as Gray marched across the room, grabbing Ghetto by the wrist and pulling him outside. “Look, Major, I—”

“You cut this shit out until after tomorrow, and maybe even longer, you understand me?” Gray ordered, and Ghetto raised his hands in surrender.

“I didn’t mean to kiss him I swear to god, it was just the moment, I—”

“Shhhhh.” Gray held up a finger. “I don’t want an excuse. I’m not trying to suggest you did something Nick didn’t want you to do, I know you’re a decent person, I’m just asking you to hold off on sticking your tongue down Nick’s throat until his boyfriend, the one he is dating, currently, is home and safe. I’m not an idiot, I’ve noticed what people say about this guy, whoever the hell he is, and I’m not exactly happy with what I’ve heard, but relationship drama in the middle of battling two incredibly powerful assholes lacking in morality isn’t the best idea, could you agree with that, mister Reid?”

“Yessir,” Ghetto mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

“So. Be patient. I don’t want to bench you.” Gray took a step back. “Good luck, Ghetto.”

He turned and walked inside, leaving Ghetto alone, still reeling. He put his hands on his head and gulped. “Perfect,” he whispered, making his way back inside as well. “Wonderful. Just peachy.”

“You okay man?” Shark asked, and Ghetto glared at him. He yelped and shuffled away. “Never mind, sorry.”

——

It was early in the morning, just before dawn, when Maya Rosa appeared at the front door of the cabin, a backpack slung over one shoulder. Luciano stood on the porch, taking a deep breath. “Maya,” he said, and she looked at him.

“Where’s the boy?” she asked, and Luciano nodded towards the door.

“They haven’t left yet, but they’re about to. You could wish Katrina and Adam good luck,” he said, and Maya walked right past him. He sighed and followed her inside the cabin.

“Okay, guys, I’m serious about the bathroom breaks, go now,” Gray said, turning and seeing Maya. He turned towards her and held out a hand, and she shook it firmly. “You must be Sky and Katrina’s mother, I’m Gray. I’m glad you could help, sorry if it’s any trouble.”

“Not at all, I love kids. This weretiger’s safe with me,” Maya assured, smiling kindly.

“Mama, hey!” Sky jogged over and gave Maya a side hug.

“Hey, mijo, have you been alright?” she asked him, and he nodded. He was much taller than her, and so was Katrina when she made her way over. Gray smiled and motioned for Jordan to come over. He did, looking up at the angel with wide eyes. “And you must be Jordan, then, aren’t you the cutest thing!”

Jordan shook her hand and giggled at her, tail flicking.

“Gray, sun’s rising,” Uni said, tapping his knuckles against the window. Gray sighed and looked back at everyone.

“Let’s start heading out, say goodbyes.”

Ghetto rushed over and knelt by Jordan, giving him a big hug. Sky and Katrina both embraced Maya, and gave Luciano really quick and fairly awkward hugs. Many others said goodbye to Jordan. Uni gave Luciano a handshake.

Gray pressed his hand to the cabin’s front wall, said, “I will be back, I promise,” and then walked to his Jeep.

It was finally time to go.

——

The prison had been abandoned since the eighties, and was heavily claimed to be haunted. Gray and Xavier had already known about it, but Annie researched it heavily and printed blueprints. She knew some, not all, of the twists and turns by heart. She walked ahead of everyone else when they were crossing the courtyard, which made Gray, AK, and Shark especially nervous.

“Door’s open for us,” Gray mumbled, and Jin pulled out an Uno card with a warding symbol written on it.

“If Xavier Ghetto and I did this right, the ink should turn red if there’s existing warding in the building.” They all stood by the door as Jin pressed the card to the wall, and Xavier and Ghetto looked over his shoulders. The ink didn’t change, and Jin frowned.

“That’s... odd.”

“Let’s just go,” Sky urged, and Gray nodded. He stepped inside, looking around, wings spread out. “I don’t see anything. It’s a little dark, the windows are all boarded up.” He fiddled with his flashlight and turned it on, walking further in. Ghetto slipped in next, then Shelby.

The others followed, Gray and Uni taking up the rear. Nick shuddered when he got inside. He could feel Red and Ross near, and nearly bumped into Gray, who put a hand on his back and kept him moving. “Talk to me, kid,” the Major said.

“I can sense them, but there are also... others, so it’s messing me up,” Nick whispered, and Gray glanced around.

“Others?”

“Gray, behind you!” Jess shouted, and Gray whipped around just in time to hold up his machete and block what looked vaguely like a werewolf from biting his head off. It stood on its hind legs, and its eyes were empty, devoid of humanity. Nick covered his ears as Gray pushed it back. It growled and breathed hard out of its nose.

“It’s— it— it only knows to obey!” Nick shouted, and AK grunted, teleporting behind it and pushing his machete clean through its back. Gray took some quick steps backwards as it gargled, then fell at his feet. AK yanked his machete back out and nodded to Gray, who nodded back.

“I don’t think we can save them, they’re too far gone,” Nick said, and Yoti’s ears flattened. “God, those poor people.”

“Don’t think about it too much,” Gray said, “let’s push on.”

“And hopefully not just get tetanus. This place is disgusting,” Shark mumbled, scrunching up his nose.

“Jesus Christ, Shark,” Annie said.

As they walked deeper into the maze of hallways, it got darker, and more flashlights turned on. There were a few stray monsters here and there, but Jess gave notice, and they were handled easily, for the most part. Nature was beginning to take back the old building, which gave Shelby an advantage.

They soon found themselves in a massive cell block, and Barney was checking inside cells, which slowed him down considerably. Gray kept checking over his shoulder and telling Barney to hurry it up, and Barney waved him off, saying he didn’t want to miss anything.

Jess was walking in silence, trying to focus, when suddenly, a premonition struck. She froze, and gasped, and ran to Sky, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Jess, what— AH!” Sky clutched his head, stumbling and collapsing into Jess’ arms, just like she’d seen. “Fuuuck, Ross is doing it again— ow ow ow god it HURTS—”

Jess fell to her knees, still holding him. “Sky— what’s he doing,” she said, her focus shifting. Sky’s face reddened with strain, and he screamed into his hands as Katrina grabbed hold of her brother’s arm.

“WHERE’S BARNEY!”

Gray cursed and whipped around, realizing he’d forgotten to check. Barney wasn’t there, but Gray spotted movement in a cell, and began to sprint. Jess left Sky with Katrina and ran as well, too unfocused to predict or prevent what would happen next.

Barney lunged out of the cell, backing up violently until he fell backwards, shouting in pain. Ahead of him, a familiar monster with long dark hair and sharpened nails crept out of the cell, made in the image of the one Sky had killed at Luciano’s house. Not too far away, a man with a black feather smirked, and then the monster swiped, damaging more than an eye. Jess stumbled in shock, Sky shrieked in pain and grief, and the monster swiped at Gray’s arm.

It was a clever move, Jess figured as Gray cursed and stumbled back, clutching his hurt arm. Sky’s reaction would distract everyone, leaving room for the tragedy itself to be carried out. Gray tried to go back towards Barney, just to be sure, but the monster took the body and disappeared with it in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but blood behind.

Sky snapped out of his trance as the tragedy concluded, his eyes shooting open. “Barney— OH GOD!” He scrambled to his feet, running towards where Barney had been. He fell to his knees, his hair falling in front of his face. Jess walked forward and reached out, but he slapped her hand away, his eyes wide. “I— I’m checking—”

Sky shut his eyes, and opened them again, and this time Cal was right next to him, trying to shake him. Blood and rain coated his clothes, and his hair was red again. “You have to keep living, without me,” he said, his speech slurring.

“Where is he,” Sky whispered, looking around. There was no sign of Barney, only Cal and a girl in the corner of the room. Cal shook his head.

“I’m bad, I think I’m real bad, drugged,” Cal breathed. Sky shouted in frustration and took himself out of the ghost realm.

“NO HELP!” He stood up, turning back towards the group and retying his ponytail. “I’M KILLING HIM! LET’S KEEP FUCKING WALKING!” he yelled, covering his eyes to shield his tears. “LET’S... just go.”

Gray was rolling up his arm with bandages when Sky pushed past him, walking ahead. “Sky,” he called, “you need to—”

“Don’t,” Sky spat, pressing on. “COME ON!”

Nick winced, and started to follow him. The others did too, and Gray sighed, exchanging glances with Jess. He put a hand on her back as she covered her mouth and cried.

——

Any optimism was shattered. The group dragged on, still, but they were solemn and silent. No more monsters faced them, and they were at least thankful for that. Sky was leading now, and Annie quietly whispered to him, “We’re approaching solitary, right through this door on the right.”

Sky said nothing, he just kept on walking, turning a corner and eyeing the door that Annie mentioned. He didn’t look at her.

“This isn’t good,” Ghetto whispered, and Shark elbowed him.

“You think? He’s pissed the fuck off, and Barney—” Shark put a hand on his head. “I’m trying to process...”

Nick pulled Cory’s jacket closer, his jaw trembling. “What if they expected all of us,” he said, and Ghetto shuddered. “What if they’re gonna pick us off one by one, I— good god—”

“Nick, calm down, if it happens again... we’ll know... not to focus so much on what Sky is doing. Ross using the feather affects Sky more than I thought, I’ll admit I was caught off guard. Next time we won’t be,” Ghetto reassured, and Nick tried to wipe tears away.

“Would you stop the FUCKING whispering—” Sky whipped around, but his moment was short lived. Behind him, a man rushed out of the solitary door with so much momentum that he slammed into the opposite wall. He stumbled, and stood in the middle of the hallway, breathing heavily and clutching his shoulder. Sky turned back around. “Who the fuck—”

“CORY!” Nick screamed, sprinting forward and holding his arms out. Cory gasped and stumbled back as Nick hugged him tightly. “Cory, oh god, it’s you!”

“It’s me...” Cory breathed. It’s important to note that some of the group had yet to turn the corner. “Nick, hey.” He cupped Nick’s face in his hands and wiped away his tears. “It’s you.”

Nick was hysterical. “Cory, I— I was so— so so worried, I— oh god, Cory, thank god you’re alive, how hurt are you, are— are you—”

“Nick, Nick slow down,” Cory said. Oddly, he didn’t seem hurt at all. “Nick, I escaped them, but we need to go quick, really really quick. Let’s get out of here, now.”

Xavier and Gray turned the corner, and Xavier reeled back, gripping Gray’s hand. “What the shit,” Gray hissed, and Cory let out a nervous laugh.

“Let’s go, this way, Nick,” he said, grabbing Nick’s arm and pulling him towards another door. “Like, Nick, NOW—”

“Cory Santiago is the boyfriend?” Xavier asked, and pieces began to fall into place in his head. “Oh, jesus. Nick, honey—”

“Nick, how about you come over here, alright? Come over here.” Gray shook his head, still in shock. Cory held Nick tighter and scowled. “Cory, we were under the assumption that you were dead!”

“What.” Shelby turned to face Gray just as General Uni turned the corner, his face blank. Cory yelped and pulled Nick backwards with him.

“Long time no see?” he whimpered, and Uni began to walk forward. Nick was frozen as Uni’s horrifying levels of rage enveloped the area. “Uni— hey now—”

“You dirty, no good, lying, manipulating, SNAKE!” Uni grabbed Nick and shoved him out of the way, sending him stumbling back and falling. Shelby and Ghetto both went to help him up, the rough ground having torn up the back of Cory’s beige jacket considerably. Xavier covered his mouth with one hand and squeezed Gray’s hand with the other.

“Hey—” Cory began, but Uni’s fist interrupted him, jabbing him right in the nose and resulting in a loud crack that echoed in the hallway. Cory groaned and stumbled, covering his nose. Nick screamed.

“UNI STOP!” Nick ran back and grabbed Uni’s arm, and Uni pushed him away again.

“Kid, get back from him, I don’t want you near him! BACK AWAY!” Uni barked, and Nick flinched, retreating back to Shelby’s arms. “HE BETRAYED ME, NICK, IT WAS HIM!”

Cory gasped as Uni went for his throat, slamming him against the wall. “Shut the fuck up, shut up, you’re ruining everything,” Cory hissed, wrestling himself out of Uni’s grip. “You’re DELUSIONAL! A FUCKING FREAK!”

Uni stepped back, and started to chuckle. Then, he threw his head back and laughed, his hand on his head. “I’m the fucking freak! I’m delusional!” He doubled over, his voice hoarse. “Oh dear lord, you’re the boyfriend! You’re it! YOU! God, you’re really fucking sick, aren’t you!”

Cory grit his teeth. “Uni, it’s not like that.”

“Oh, oh not like that. Not like that!” Uni threw his arms in the air. “Of course it’s not like that, it’s never like that with you, is it! I should’ve known, you always went after younger people.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Cory screamed, his face red with rage.

“What were you gonna do to this one, huh? What did you think you were gonna do, Cory!” Uni was still cackling, maniacally. Cory was shaking, and a fire in those blue eyes burned bright.

“NOTHING ANYMORE, I LOVE HIM!” he shouted, and Nick looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. Uni smirked.

“Anymore, Sergeant Santiago. Anymore.”

Cory froze, stuttering. He covered his face and turned around, nearly pulling some of his hair out.

“You know what’s extra funny, Cory?” Uni stepped forward. “I’ll tell you what’s fucking FUNNY. Back at the cabin, you know what happened with your little boytoy? You wanna know what I sensed, two times?”

Ghetto shook his head, and Nick covered his ears, sobbing.

“He and your favorite shapeshifter kissed! And we all know what we felt when it happened, we all felt the Bond, Cory!” Cory slowly lowered his hands, standing up straighter. “He doesn’t love you like he thinks he does! No one will ever love you!”

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Cory whipped around and lunged for Uni, but Uni only punched him again, sending him to the ground this time. Nick cried out again, struggling against Shelby’s grip on him.

“You’re pathetic,” Uni said. “You always have been, and you always will be.” He kicked Cory in the stomach, and Nick screamed, and Gray cursed, letting go of Xavier’s hand and marching up there.

“That’s enough,” Gray said, and Uni let himself be pulled away, giggling. “Christ, Uni, what the fuck!” He pushed Uni back even further, and Uni put his hand on his head.

“He wasn’t dead, he was never dead.”

“OBVIOUSLY!” Gray yelled, and Xavier flinched. “FUCKING EXPLAIN!”

Nick squirmed out of Shelby’s grip as her focus turned to Uni. He fell to his knees by Cory, helping him up. “Cory, Cory are you okay?” he asked, brushing hair out of Cory’s eyes.

“Yeah,” Cory grunted, sitting up. “Let’s just get out, let’s go now. We can run, I know the way. We’ll make it.”

“Cory is the one working with Red! He took out my eye, made me a werewolf, it’s all him!” Uni exclaimed.

“Cory— we can’t just leave them, they’re my friends,” Nick urged, blocking Uni out. Cory shook his head.

“Gray, Xavier, and Uni? Are you kidding? Don’t make me laugh.”

“How do you three know him?” Ghetto asked, and Xavier stuttered.

“The— government—”

“Uni is a madman, Xavier’s a coward, and Gray? Don’t get me started on what I’ve heard about him,” Cory said, as Nick helped him to his feet. “Come on, Nick, now. I’m not asking anymore.”

“But— Cory I—” Nick looked back at the group, his friends, his family, Ghetto. “We’ll be leaving them all alone, they helped save you—”

“JESUS CHRIST! DO AS I SAY!” Cory demanded, and Nick flinched. The hallway quieted significantly as everyone stared at Cory. Annie encased Shark’s hand in a death grip, and Katrina grit her teeth.

“Cory... but what Uni said—”

“I don’t care,” Cory said, glancing at Ghetto for a split second. “I just don’t fucking care. We need to hurry, we’re going. NOW.” Cory grabbed Nick’s wrist tightly and pulled. Nick let out a yelp, and yanked his arm away.

“No!” he shouted, stepping backwards. “I’m not leaving my family!”

Cory’s mouth hung open. “Did you just— say no?” he asked, taking a step forward. Nick whimpered, and a feeling began to seep through Cory. Another static feeling, this one cold and horrid. “You don’t say no to me. I know best, you get that?”

“Cory—” Nick held up his hands, turning and backing towards Gray. Flashlights began to flicker. Cory shut his eyes, and cursed.

“Fucking hell, Nick,” he said, shaking his head. “Fucking hell.”

The flashlights went out, and two red eyes appeared in the dark next to Cory. Cory winced as Red patted his back. “A pleasureful performance, Cory, it nearly brought this old soul to tears,” Red teased, clapping once and looking at the crowd of people with a grin on his face. He threw his arm over Cory’s shoulder and laughed. “Yes, yes, great job, my General.”

Uni scoffed, and Nick paled.

“I see the look on your face doll! Yes, Cory came to me around a year or so ago, maybe more, saying he was oh so unhappy with his situation, Sergeant for life, all that. So I offered him a better position,” Red explained, and Cory sighed, defeated.

“You’re lying,” Nick whispered, weak from Red’s feelings.

“He’s not,” a monotone voice said. Sky’s eyes widened, then narrowed, as Ross walked out. “You, Nick, have... got it bad, as some may say.”

“You.” Sky marched forward, and Ross held up a finger.

“Do you really want to come close to me considering what I did to dear Barney? You won’t be able to stop it, you know. There’s your sister, your mother, Jess, any of these people. I know you care for them,” he warned, and Sky froze, seething and looking back at his family and friends. Jess shook her head, eyes pleading. Sky took a step back. “Can we end this little display? I’m quite bored of it.”

Red grinned. “Sure thing, Doc,” he said, and he whistled. All of a sudden, everyone keeled over as warding took effect, sapping them of all their powers and energy. Nick and Shelby glanced at each other as they felt their connection sever, and Yoti turned his head and barked at Nick. Nick shook his head; he couldn’t understand it.

Red walked over and grabbed Nick by the arm, yanking him to his feet. The paralysis took effect almost immediately, and Nick slumped back into his arms. Ghetto, who was on the floor, gasped and reached out, but Red stepped on his hand, and he winced. “No more for you, shapeshifter,” Red said, lifting Nick bridal style as the empath’s eyes began to flutter. Gray grunted and tried to stand, along with some others, but the warding was strong. “Take ‘em away, folks! And someone get this bad boy’s nose fixed up.”

People rushed into the hall; cryptids. They started picking people up and taking them away in different directions, many of them passed out by now. Someone grabbed Shark by the arm, tugging him away from Annie. “No,” he mumbled, eyes tired and afraid. Annie gasped and grabbed his hand, but the cryptid pulled harder and the flimsy grip was lost.

Gray and Xavier were pulled away from each other, Gray still awake enough to struggle, looking between Xavier and Nick. “Stop it, no no no,” he whispered, reaching a hand out as Xavier lost consciousness.

“Cory you motherfucker,” Ghetto hissed, grabbing Cory’s foot. “You motherfucker!”

Cory yelped and shook Ghetto’s hand off him. “Back off! You lost, man,” Cory hissed, and Uni let out a chuckle.

“You both lost, look at Red,” he said as someone pulled him to his feet. Red glanced over his shoulder and grinned at Cory as he took an unconscious Nick out of the room. “You’ve been played, idiot.”

Cory huffed and turned his back to them, following Red out.

“You’ve been fucking played!”

——

Luciano tapped his fingers anxiously against the table as Maya put a plate of food in front of Jordan. “Eat up, alright?” she cooed, placing a motherly hand on Jordan’s head. “As much as you can, I know you’re nervous, but try to eat something, it’s noon and you’ve barely had anything.”

“Yes miss Maya,” Jordan said, smiling up at her. She smiled back, pinched his cheek, and went to the kitchen to clean the dishes. Luciano chewed his lip as hard as he could, skin never breaking. He squirmed in his chair and bounced his knee. Jordan’s ears flicked towards him, giving him a side glance. “Luciano, something on your mind?”

“YES,” Luciano blurted out, and Maya turned around. “Chamaco, can you eat in another room for a second, I need to talk to—” he glanced at Maya, “my wonderful wife here.”

“Nooo problem.” Jordan got his plate and his glass of water and walked off, retreating to the basement. Luciano stood up, and Maya rolled her eyes.

“Whatever the hell it is, just make it quick—”

“Divorce papers, I— signed them, before I came here,” Luciano said, and Maya raised her eyebrows. “And no, I’m not kidding, we’re split, official, told my lawyer to pull any strings he needed to to make sure of that. I’m sorry I never— sorry I never signed them, I’m sorry they sat there and you stayed tied to me for this long.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, but I appreciate the signature that could’ve been done a decade ago,” Maya said, and Luciano ran his fingers through his hair.

“Right, and... I also made a will,” he said, and Maya scoffed.

“What do you need a will for, you gonna fake your death soon?”

“No, I’m not doing that anymore,” Luciano mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I made it when Ross started fucking with me, alright? Money all to you and the kids, that kinda shit. I won’t care what you do with it— I mean obviously. I’ll be dead.”

“Okay, okay,” Maya said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Let’s entertain this thought. Your property.”

“That’s all going to you and Katrina, Sky never liked any of my houses. But like I said,” Luciano shrugged, “burn it to the ground for insurance, whatever you need!”

“I’m not gonna burn it for insurance,” Maya said, deadpan. “You’re acting so strangely, Luciano.”

“I know.” Luciano rubbed his arms and jumped when there was a knock at the door. Maya frowned and went to go get it. Luciano watched from behind, just in case, as Maya opened the door.

They both gasped.

Barney leaned against the doorframe, his hand on his chest. He was breathing heavily and bleeding. “Maya, I...” he fell forward, and Maya caught him, sitting on her legs and resting his head in her lap.

“Oh god,” Maya breathed, seeing four deep gashes on the front of his body. “You made it all the way here?” Barney nodded weakly, and Maya spread her wings, glowing and golden. “Alright, hold on.”

She held a hand over the wound and performed a miracle of healing. Luciano whipped around as Jordan ran back up the stairs. “What happened?” he asked, and Luciano held out a hand.

“Kid, don’t look at the blood, stay over there!” he exclaimed, and Maya grunted. Jordan yelped and ran right past Luciano, looking over Maya’s shoulder just as she finished healing his wounds, leaving nothing but scars behind. Barney groaned and sat up, and Jordan sat down next to him.

“Barney, what happened?” Jordan asked, and Barney looked up at Luciano.

“They’re all in deep deep troubles, guys! A creature did this to me and dragged me away, I was passed out from shock but I woke up and managed to turn into a lizard and run outside, but before I managed to get back in to help some warding shot up, strong enough to knock everyone out cold, I could feel it! I thought maybe if I just made it back here you two could help out, I don’t know a thing about warding!” Barney explained, close to hysterical. “Sky!”

“Fuck,” Luciano spat, turning around. He held his stomach and... felt something, a pull, or a certain knowledge in the back of his mind. He stood up straight and took a deep breath. “I’ll go.”

Maya helped Barney up. “What?” she hissed, shaking her head. “Luciano—”

“The witch, it’s the witch! She’s telling me to go, I don’t know why, but I do, but—” Luciano gripped his hair. “Do you ever feel like you just have to do something? Like it’s your destiny, or whatever?”

Maya took a deep breath. “I can help, but I don’t know anything about warding.”

“No, stay with the boy, just in case. Barney and I can go, if you’re up to it,” Luciano said, pointing to Barney, who nodded. “We can go. Let’s go now.”

“You don’t have a car— oh no, no way,” Maya breathed, and Luciano nodded. “Luciano, she will be so mad at you—”

A few minutes later, Luciano was speeding down the main road in his daughter’s Mercedes, while Barney held up a map in the passenger seat. Luciano was gripping the steering wheel tightly, and he may have been the most determined he’d ever been in his entire goddamn life.

——

Ghetto groaned as he awoke. It was pitch black, wherever he was, and he heard nothing but the faint sound of someone breathing. He was able to get to his feet, this time, although he was a little wobbly. He shook his head and blinked, eyes slowly adjusting to the dark. He noticed the faint outlines of cell bars, and he lunged forward and grabbed hold of one, tugging it as hard as he could, figuring he could move an old rusty piece of metal. It didn’t budge a single bit; didn’t even creak. Ghetto let out a breath and wiped the rust off his hands. “Fucking warding,” he hissed, kicking the bar and doing nothing but hurting his toe.

“Oh, fuck...” an accented voice said behind him. He whipped around and saw a figure attempting to stand. It must’ve been Xavier, Ghetto could tell by the voice and the frame. Ghetto walked over and helped the Professor to his feet. “Ghetto?”

“It’s me,” Ghetto said. “We’re in a cell, some of the warding is still in effect because my strength is fucking spent.”

“I feel weaker than usual. And I think they,” Xavier patted his pockets, “Yeah, they took all my markers away. No counter-warding for us.”

“Shit, alright.” Ghetto walked up to the bars and grabbed them. “GRAY! SHELBY! NICK? ANYONE!” he shouted, and oddly, sound didn’t seem to echo like it had done before. “Fuck! I think I know what those motherfuckers did. There’s a warding symbol that traps people in a sound bubble, too. Who the fuck came up with this shit. Fuck Red Ross and Cory, man!”

“Oh, shit, Cory,” Xavier mumbled, his head in his hands. “Right, Cory.”

Ghetto turned back around. “Oh, shit, you knew him! How the fuck did we never even say his fucking name in front of one of you!” He paused, and thought, and scoffed. “Guess we really hated him that much.”

“We thought he was dead and gone, that was what Uni told us. But I suppose Uni was lying about it all. God, I hate that dumbass, Cory. Always have,” Xavier grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What did he do, none of you were very good at communicating back there!” Ghetto shouted, and Xavier held up his hands.

“Okay! He worked with us on the project nine years ago, I think some strings were pulled to get him in, or maybe he was just their type, I don’t know. But the entire time he held no remorse for cryptids, and he whined when Uni told him to leave, said something like he would never rise up in the ranks if he left,” Xavier explained.

“And Uni said he was the one who took his eye and made him a werewolf, and that he’d worked with Red to do it,” Ghetto added, and Xavier nodded. “Motherfucker! I fucking knew Nick wasn’t safe, I fucking knew it! Oh god, we don’t know where the fuck he is, where anyone is!”

“I know! Jesus Christ, what the hell do we do!” Xavier exclaimed, and Ghetto slapped a hand on his forehead.

“Motherfucker, I don’t have a clue.”

——

Katrina was leaning against the wall, glaring Uni down while he sat in the corner and wallowed. They’d come to the same conclusions as Ghetto and Xavier, but without speaking to each other once.

Katrina inhaled. “You know— that was a real dick move,” she said, and Uni glanced at her. “You shouldn’t have said those things in front of Nick. It was so clear that that relationship was bad news, and Nick was freaked out about it, and you just— milked it.”

“I say what I mean,” Uni mumbled, and Katrina pushed herself off the wall.

“I get you needed your moment, or whatever. You didn’t have to bring Nick into it. He deserves better than that. Nick could be in a lot more danger now because of you.” That made Uni raise his head and stare at her.

“I don’t mean to put the kid in danger, that’s the last thing I want.”

“You did,” Katrina said, and Uni looked away from her, almost looking guilty.

——

“Are you afraid?” Jin asked as he paced across the cell. “Because I’m very, very afraid. I’m absolutely batshit terrified.”

“We’re getting out, Jin, we have to. Nick’s dealing with something I’ve seen plenty of times before, and everyone else needs our help too. We’re getting out,” Annie assured, and Jin laughed at the thought.

“Getting out! We’re not getting out, Annie, we’re never getting out, we’re screwed, doomed, fucked, whatever the hell you wanna call it!” Jin shuddered. “We’re gonna get eaten by an immortal serial killer. We’re done for.”

“You’re a wonder to be around,” Annie said, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know how long I can handle being in this damn cell with you or I might adopt your mindset and just lie here and die—”

“We can’t do this, we could never do this, why did we do this!”

“—and our bodies will gather cobwebs and decompose and maybe we can even be ghost friends! Do you wanna be my ghost friend, Jin?”

“Annie! Barney is fucking dead!” Jin exclaimed, putting his hands on his head. Annie winced. “He’s dead, gone forever, never coming back, fully one hundred percent deceased and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it, because he’s gone! Gone forever!”

“Bong bong shikalur!”

Jin screamed and dove away from the cell window. The two watched in awe as two pairs of hands tore off the boards over the window, revealing faint moonlight and two familiar figures; Luciano and Barney.

“Not dead, Doctor!” Barney giggled and grinned.

——

“They should all be awake by now,” Ross said, scoffing. “If you wanted to get a word in with Nick, now would be the time.”

“Perfect,” Red said, combing through his hair with his fingers. “Do I look okay, Doc?”

“I don’t care,” Ross mumbled, taking a sip of his tea. Red huffed and slumped his shoulders.

“You are no fun, no fun at all,” Red sighed, perking up when Cory walked in. “Oh! Cory, you can—”

“We need to talk,” Cory said, and Red’s nose scrunched up in disgust. Ross raised his eyebrows.

“Don’t interrupt me, kid, respect your elders,” Red said, placing a finger on Cory’s chest and then flicking it upward and hitting his nose. Cory winced and covered his hurt nose. “Oops, forgot about that little incident.”

Cory sighed, and said, “Red, I want to talk to Nick. We need to work something out—”

“Cory,” Red said, hovering his finger over Cory’s lips. “I don’t think you’re quite getting the picture here. Nick is no longer yours, he is mine.”

Cory stuttered. “But— Red, I’m your right hand, I was under the impression that—”

“Stop,” Red ordered, and Cory did, shutting his mouth. “Look, sorry kid, but Nick’s my second chance at something I've wanted for a very long time. I hope you understand. We can find you some other boytoy someday.” Red dusted himself off and smirked. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date.”

Red disappeared with the flicker of a lantern on a table, leaving Cory absolutely dumbfounded.

Red teleported himself into a cell, in an area far from where the others were being held. Hiding in the corner, shaking, was Nick. “Rise and shine,” Red said, smirking. Nick pressed himself further into the corner, his breathing labored. “Oh, c’mon, don’t be like that.”

Nick had experienced Red’s feelings so many times, and had practiced well enough at the cabin, that he’d begun to understand exactly what the feelings were. The one that made Nick so afraid ran deeper than hunger; it was much more specific than that.

“Can I tell you a story?” Red asked, and Nick only watched him closely. “I was young, in the thirties, y’know. I was born in 1916, towards the end of the Great War, to two dumb, ignorant cowards, who insisted that I suppress my gifts. Sound familiar, Nick?”

“What are you?” Nick asked, and Red chuckled.

“I go by many names. Many people know me, know my story, well, a fair amount of it. My parents, poor, stupid things, they got out of line in 1934. Way out of line. So me, being the man of action, corrected it. I’m sure someone has told you what I did to them, the undead friend of yours, probably.” Red knelt down right in front of Nick, his glowing irises making Nick squint and blink. “They tried to end me. My own parents, they saw what I was and they decided I couldn’t exist. But do you know what I did? What did I do, Nick?”

Nick shuddered and looked away. “You— you ate them,” Nick whimpered, and Red grinned.

“Correct. Now everyone knows that part, but do you ever wonder what in the world set them off? What made them so angry?” Red stood up, walking back towards the bars and looking out of them. “There was a girl. A real doll, she was.”

He turned back around, and looked at Nick. “Hazel, was the name. She was small, and young, and sweet... and she listened to me. She didn’t have a choice, of course, but she listened. A perfect girlfriend.”

Nick gagged and covered his mouth. That feeling, deeper than hunger, was pervasive, invading every corner of the cell, and more. He hadn’t realized how familiar it was until now; it was lust. Lust, but twisted and wrong, lust that resulted in a victim.

“I was naive, back then. Eighteen. I wanted Hazel to be mine forever, or at least, as long as she was young and beautiful. But I made a crucial mistake, I admit it!” Red turned back around and put a hand on his chest. “I just got— well I just got hungry!”

Nick let out a quiet cry, and some tears fell from his eyes, running down his cheeks and gathering at his chin.

“And she was gone! Dead! So, so naive, like I said... but not anymore. Not anymore.” Red grinned. “I watched you for months, Nick. I couldn’t believe I found someone who looked so much like her, was so much like her!”

Nick’s eyes went wide in terror.

“And now you’re finally mine!”

——

“Holy shit,” Annie whispered, running up to the window. “Barney!”

“How are you— how are you alive?” Jin asked. “Wait— how can you hear us, there’s a sound barrier around us!”

“Guess we’re in range, bud!” Luciano said. “When I put my ear to the window I could hear you bitching.”

“And I actually just passed out from shock, not death. I escaped the monster’s grasp and made it back to the cabin and Maya healed me as much as she could,” Barney explained.

“Oh my god, you are resilient,” Jin said, nodding. “I commend you.”

“Thank you!”

“Okay okay okay enough chatter,” Annie said, “do either of you guys know warding?”

“Not one bit,” Luciano said, smirking. “But I brought a Sharpie, if you want it, you could draw whatever you like, a dick, y’know.”

Jin blinked. “What— I— okay. Luciano, you’re on the outside of the building, you need to draw them out there, they’ll be more powerful that way,” he said, reluctantly. Luciano pulled the marker out of his pocket and uncapped it.

“Why?” Annie asked, and Jin shrugged.

“I did research, that’s what it said!”

“Fair enough! Lead the way, Doc!” Luciano exclaimed. Jin sighed.

“Okay, I know which one you need to draw. You have to listen to me very carefully okay? If you mess up and accidentally draw another symbol we don’t know what might happen,” Jin warned, and Luciano nodded. “Okay. Draw a box. It signifies that we’re warding the whole building—”

“Why are you explaining its meaning to him? Just tell him what to draw,” Annie urged, and Jin glared at her.

“Draw a circle inside the box that is as big as the box, like, touching the walls of the box.”

“What does that mean?” Luciano asked. Annie sighed.

“Luciano— it’s the base,” Jin said, and Luciano nodded. “Okay. Draw a circle within the circle. Now, and listen before you start, draw a wavy line within the smaller circle, the first wave goes up. There have to be two waves going up and two waves going down.”

“Yeeessir. Okay what now.” Luciano chewed the end of the pen anxiously, almost anticipating something.

Jin rubbed his temples and took deep breaths. “Draw a diagonal line starting at the top left corner of the bigger circle and ending at the bottom right corner.”

“Circles don’t have corners.”

“Luciano!”

“Right.” Luciano did as he was told. He looked at his hand, and noticed it was shaking. Barney glanced at it as well, frowning. “Jin, hurry.”

“Make an X, do the same thing on the other side. And that should do it, that should cancel all other warding in the building,” Jin said, voice frantic. Luciano gulped and drew the last line. He paused midway.

“Jin, Annie, Barney,” Luciano said, and Jin put his hands on his head. “Can you tell my kids that I deserve absolutely nothing?”

“Tell them yourself,” Barney said. Luciano smiled, and finished the symbol. Jin and Annie both gasped as they felt the rest of their energy coming back. Jin stumbled, and ran to the bars, hearing distant voices; their friends.

“You did it, Luciano, you did it!” Annie said, and Barney turned into a lizard and scurried in through the bars, hopping on her head. Luciano dropped the pen through the window as a figure loomed over his shoulder. Annie’s smile dropped as Luciano turned around to face it. “Luciano—”

An artificial, immortal werewolf swiped its claws. For a brief moment, Luciano was alive and clutching his slit throat. He slid down the wall and collapsed.

Annie stumbled back, and Barney jumped off her, turning back to human form. Jin turned and looked, paling.

“Jesus fuck!” he shouted, backing away. The experiment walked away, and they all ran back up to the window, peering over. “Oh, god—”

“We have to go,” Barney said, stepping back towards the cell door. “Let’s go.”

“And leave him here?” Annie asked, and Jin shook his head.

“What else can we do? We can come back later,” he said, running to the door and shaking it.

——

“Someone broke the warding!” Gray exclaimed, backing up. Sky spread his wings and stood up, watching as his cellmate rammed his shoulder into the cell door, making it budge significantly.

“Wait, Gray, I need to talk to someone,” Sky said, turning around. Gray paused and looked at him oddly.

“Who the fuck—”

Sky blocked him out, and felt the air cool around him. He shivered and looked in the corner of the room, where Cal was curled up. Sky knelt down in front of him. “Hey,” he said, and Cal lifted his head. “What the hell has gotten into you? Are you stressed, and it’s making you act like this, huh? We have a shot, the warding is down.”

“I— Sky,” Cal said, shaking his head. “Barney.”

Sky grit his teeth. “Have you seen him?”

“No, that’s the thing. Sky, I haven’t seen him. I was drugged on the day I died, and I just kept thinking about everything while you were walking through the prison and I got stressed and started acting like I did on that day, like ghosts do, it hasn’t gotten that bad in a while. I don’t know where Barney is, I was too out of it,” Cal explained, his hair changing from red to blond. “Jesus Christ, my dad’s right there.”

Gray stared down at Sky, though Sky couldn’t see it. He walked closer, remembering something about how Sky could talk to ghosts.

“Do you see anything happening soon?” Sky asked, eyes wide and fierce. Gray took a step back at that.

Cal put his hands on his head. “No, I can’t focus, everything is so jumbled—”

“Cal, calm down,” Sky said, and Cal gasped at him. Sky froze, soon realizing his mistake. “Oh, shit—”

Gray grabbed Sky by the arm and yanked him right out of the spirit realm. “What the fuck did you just say?” he spat, and Sky flinched.

“Your— your son— he’s a ghost, we’re kind of friends now I guess,” Sky stammered. “He’s been telling me things, helping me out, but he’s not doing so hot right now— I just wanted to know if he’d seen... Barney...”

Gray looked behind Sky at the corner, his eyes softening. “Cal?” he asked, his voice unbelievably quiet.

“Gray, we need to go,” Sky urged. “We need to go. He’ll watch over us, alright? He’ll watch over you, he wants Ross dead.”

Gray let go of Sky. “Let’s... let’s do it then,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t process this. I can’t.”

When Sky glanced back at the corner, Cal was crying.

Gray wiped his eyes and went back to the door, running into it again. It swung open, barely hanging on its hinges, and Gray ran himself into the opposite cell. “I hear voices,” he said, and Sky nodded, trusting Gray’s senses. They sprinted through the building, Gray eventually turning into a wolf. They turned a corner, and saw Xavier and Ghetto. Gray gasped, turned back to his human form, and ran towards Xavier. They met in the middle, embracing each other tightly.

“Oh god, Xavier, you’re okay,” Gray sighed, and Xavier gave him a quick kiss.

“And you’re okay,” Xavier said, and Gray kissed him on the forehead.

“Has anyone seen Nick?” Ghetto asked, and Sky shrugged. There was a tug on his arm, and he was back to the spirit realm.

“Nick’s alone with Red, I took a look around,” Cal said, and Sky nodded, relaying the information to the others.

“Alone? How do you know,” Ghetto asked, and Sky pointed to his head.

“Ghosts,” he said, and Gray glanced away, holding Xavier’s hand. “Let’s find the others and regroup, these motherfuckers are gonna pay.”

“Guys!” Shelby and Shark emerged from around the corner. “You’re alright!” Shark exclaimed, and they ran up to the group of four. “We were in a cell together, we haven’t seen anyone else! Who took the warding down?”

“No clue,” Ghetto said, shrugging. “Might’ve been Jin, but I’m not sure how he pulled it off.”

“Let’s find the rest, and hurry! Before they fix it!” Shelby shouted, marching ahead. Everyone else followed her, until they ended up crossing paths with Uni, Katrina, Jess, Yoti, and AK. Katrina hugged her little brother, and Yoti ran up to Shelby.

_Have you been able to get ahold of Nick? he asked, and Shelby shook her head._

“He’s blocked everyone out again.”

_Shit, let’s find him then._

They pushed on, unsure where exactly to go, trying to listen out for voices. There were no experiments, none of Red’s followers. When Jin walked through a doorway, they were so on edge that Shelby made some vines wrap around his feet and trip him. He yelped and fell, and Shelby winced. “Shit sorry,” she said, sending the vines away.

“‘S fine,” Jin said, standing up. “We were looking for you guys.”

Annie came next, and Shark held out his arms. She grinned and ran into them. “You would not believe what happened,” she said, looking back as Barney walked through the doorway.

Everyone did a double take. There was Barney, clothes still torn, but absolutely alive. Sky let out a shaky breath. “Barney?” he asked, reaching out for him. Barney ran up to him and gave him a hug. “You— you’re not—”

“I just got hurt. Your mother, she healed me, and... your father...” Barney trailed off, and wiped tears off Sky’s cheeks. Jess, Katrina, and others gathered around him. “He brought me here, he took down the warding.”

“In what car?” Katrina asked, and Barney shot her a guilty look. “My— my Mercedes. Of course. Where is he?”

“He took down the entire warding system in this prison,” Jin reiterated. “And uh... about where he is...”

Annie covered her mouth and shook her head. Gray narrowed his eyes. “You’re kidding,” he said, and Jin looked away.

“Wait—” Sky cupped Barney’s face in his hands. “My dad’s dead?”

Barney leaned on Sky and hid his face in his shoulder, rubbing his back. Katrina staggered. “Oh, god,” she said, covering her face. “Oh god.”

Sky’s lip quivered. “That— motherfucker,” he hissed. “One of Ross’ experiments?”

Barney nodded. “It’s okay if you don’t know how to feel—”

“We’re killing Ross. I’m doing it. Me.” Sky pulled away from the hug. “No more standing around.”

“Great idea,” Shelby said, pushing past everyone and holding her hand out. “Give me a second, they took my katana.”

Everyone stood, silently, as Shelby stood there with her hand out. Gray opened his mouth to ask what she was doing, but was interrupted by the sound of metal clanging. Shelby narrowed her eyes, and all of a sudden her katana flew right into her hand, returned to her with ease. She smirked and looked back. “Let’s go.”

——

Ross was standing in the courtyard, hands in the pockets of his coat, which flapped behind him in the wind. The feather fluttered a bit at his chest, and his neatly combed hair had small flecks of snow on top of it.

Sky walked out first and stood opposite Ross, wings spread out fully, ponytail loose again. The others quickly followed suit.

“It’s quite beautiful, some may say,” Ross hummed, looking up at the falling snow. “I don’t quite see it.”

“You’re an asshole,” Sky said, and Ross raised his eyebrows. “And you won’t be hurting anyone else, do you understand that?”

“Is that so,” Ross said, smirking. “I hurt the reptile once, I can do it again, Sky.”

“Coward, fight me!” Sky yelled. Ross chuckled. “Fight me, and Gray, both of us deserve it!”

“Fight you?” He laughed. “I don’t need to prove myself to you, Sky! Your cheap intimidation tactics don’t work on me! You lose, Sky, before you even begin. You have people I can threaten, but I don’t! You have zero leverage—”

“God, would you just shut up!” Sky shouted, lunging at Ross. Ross teleported away. “You’re so fucking annoying!”

“You can’t catch me, Sky,” Ross said. “All you are is an angel with anger issues, you’re eternally pissed off because your deadbeat father wasn’t there to play ball with you. He was afraid of you, everyone is afraid of you, and you’re even afraid of yourself.”

“Shut up,” Sky hissed, balling his hands into fists.

Gray tried to get to him next, sneaking up behind him. He teleported away again, making Gray curse. “Gray, don’t even get me started on you, the poor Major who can’t even tell when he’s been cursed by a witch! You’re an idiot!” Ross said, scoffing. Gray was confused, but he shook it off and turned into a wolf, circling around Ross. “This whole thing is ridiculous. You may defeat Red, you may, but this right here, is a battle you cannot win.”

Ross disappeared and reappeared in front of Xavier, grabbing him by the shirt. “I may kill this one just because I feel like it, look at you,” he hissed, and Gray grit his teeth, taking slow steps forward. “I always hated you. You’re the most annoying person on earth, a coward and a failure. You’re absolutely helpless without Gray and even more, you have to deal with his lack of communication skills and the mounds of baggage he carries, especially about his dead son, who, by the way, is stuck following him around as a ghost because both of those dumbasses can’t even move on correctly.”

Gray froze, stepping back and reverting back to human form. Sky looked at him, then back at Ross. “Don’t say that about them,” Sky said, and Ross scoffed.

“What, are you defending your friends? God, you’re all so patheti—” He gasped and winced as Sky stared him down, eyes narrowing.

Xavier gasped and grabbed hold of the feather, ripping it off of the string it was attached to and pushing Ross back. Sky let out a breath and shook his head. Ross staggered, looking at Sky with wide eyes.

“It was a minor car crash, no serious injuries, just an insurance debacle, really. Still counts as a tragedy, though, and I figured that would be enough to throw you off a little,” Sky said, and Ross looked back at Xavier, who held the feather close to his chest and stepped back.

“Give it to me,” Ross ordered, and Xavier shook his head. “Give it!”

“Back off, asshole,” Gray hissed, marching forward, grabbing Ross’ shoulder, and punching him across the face. Ross stumbled and held his nose, glaring at Gray. Uni laughed in the background, and Jin covered his smirk with his hand. “Yeah, so, what was that you said back at my place? About us not being a threat?”

For once, Ross did not speak. Sky reached out to Xavier, and Xavier handed him the feather. Once Sky had it, it disappeared from his hands and reappeared on his wing. He smirked and looked back at Ross. “How about we go for a spin, Ross, just you and me?”

Ross scowled at him, looking back towards Xavier and Gray. But they weren’t watching; they were already walking back inside, Gray’s hand on Xavier’s back. Sky grabbed Ross by the shirt with both hands and lifted him off the ground.

——

Sky walked back inside looking a bit more smug. He dusted himself off, and Uni patted him on the back, still giggly. Sky smiled, but then remembered something. “Go on, guys, find Nick. I’ll catch up,” he said, and they shrugged him off and started walking. Sky blinked, and found himself in front of Cal. “Hey, Ross is dead, isn’t that what you wanted? Are you leaving?”

Cal looked at him, and shook his head. “Ross was right. I think I figured it out. I can’t... I can’t move on until my dad moves on,” he said, wiping his eyes. “And I don’t know how long that’ll take.”

Sky put a hand on Cal’s shoulder. “Cal, it’s gonna turn out okay. Maybe we can talk. Sometime after this. We’ll figure it out, I wanna help,” he reassured, and Cal smiled at him.

“I appreciate the effort.”

Sky patted Cal on the shoulder and turned around, returning to the realm of the living and catching up with the rest of them.

——

Ghetto was leading the way now, along with Shelby and Gray. With Cal and Sky’s help they figured out exactly where Nick was, and they marched there with fire in their eyes, ready to save Nick and stop all of this.

Red was in the middle of the hallway, one arm around Nick’s waist and the other covering Nick’s mouth. He was wearing black gloves, and his eyebrow was raised. Nick was awake, and struggled when he saw Ghetto turn the corner. Red pulled him closer, and he stopped moving, eyes horrified.

“Let go of him,” Ghetto said, and Red laughed.

“Let go of him? That’s a funny idea.”

“What have you done to him?” Shelby asked.

“Nothing yet,” Red assured, “I’ve just scared him a little, that’s all. Once I get rid of all of you, that’s when the fun begins.”

“I’ll rip your head off your body myself,” Ghetto growled, and he took a step forward. Gray grabbed his wrist.

Red moved his hand off Nick’s mouth. “Ghetto Ghetto please don’t move, please listen to him I don’t want you to get hurt,” Nick stammered, the rage in the room making him shiver. Red placed his hand back.

“Get all that through your thick skull, shapeshifter?” Red asked, and Ghetto glanced behind Red briefly as a man emerged from a doorway, holding a machete and inching towards Red. It was Cory. “Now. I heard you got rid of the Doctor, word travels fast around here. I was gonna find some way to kill him eventually, so I guess, thank you, and Cory what are you doing?”

Cory froze as Red turned around to face him. Nick looked at him with pleading eyes. “I—” Cory stuttered. “I was— you— Nick isn’t yours,” he said, taking a stupidly brave step forward. “He’s mine.” A chorus of sighs swept through the room. “I’m saving him from you! You’re a monster, a real freak, and he deserves better than that! He is MINE!”

Nick could feel what Cory was feeling easily, even with Red right behind him, even if he tried his best to ignore it, block it out. The cold, twisted static that had been there since Seaport; obsession.

Red chuckled, then cackled. Nick flinched. “You’re so dull! Not everything is about you, Cory. You’re becoming a nuisance,” Red said, shoving Nick away and taking off the gloves. Nick scrambled for Ghetto and Shelby, and they both hugged him tightly. “Do you know what I do with nuisances?”

Red took a step towards Cory. Cory gulped, and swung the machete. Red grabbed Cory’s hands and wrenched the machete out of his grip, grabbing him by the hair and stabbing him through the stomach. Nick screamed and hid his head in Ghetto’s chest. Cory gagged. “That.”

Nick shook and whimpered as Cory stared at him in shock. “Nick—” he reached out a hand, and Ghetto shielded him. “Nick— I’m not like him— I’m not like Ri—”

Red pulled the blade out, and Cory fell at his feet. “He would make a good dinner, I suppose,” he hummed, tilting his head. Ghetto rubbed Nick’s back as he trembled and sobbed.

“Cory, oh god,” he cried, and Red rolled his eyes. Uni stepped forward, and took a good look at the body sprawled out a few feet ahead of them.

“Told him he got played,” he said, and Gray hit him in the arm. Shelby looked at Nick before marching forward, katana raised.

“Jesus Christ, ENOUGH OF THIS!” Red shouted, and he snapped his fingers.

——

All of a sudden, Gray found himself in a car; his car, before he got a new one. He could hear the muffled pitter patter of rain, and his windshield wipers were on, revealing a car that had just driven straight into a pole. He recognized that car as well, all too well. “Fuck,” he said, scrambling to take off his seatbelt. “CAL!”

——

“AK, you seem a little pale, are you alright?” Omar asked, and AK blinked. “AK?”

AK remembered this. It was a hell of a long time ago, but he remembered it.

“AK, if you’re playing a joke—” Omar’s image flickered, and suddenly it was Annie instead. “—I’ll be angry.”

AK gasped, his fingers twitching. This wasn’t the memory, not exactly. It was worse.

It was more like his worst nightmare.

——

Gray ran up to the car and looked inside, throwing the door open and dragging his son out of the passenger’s seat. Cal was barely conscious, and blood trickled down his head and leaked from a shard of glass that had lodged itself in his stomach. Gray held his son and looked up as people gathered around and someone called 911.

“The ambulance is coming,” Gray said, and Cal blinked a couple times. “Stay with me.”

“Dad... I’m bad, I think I’m real bad,” Cal mumbled, his words slurring. Gray shook his head, his breathing labored.

“No— you’re not bad, I’m sorry—”

“Drugged,” Cal said, and Gray nodded.

“On the phone, you called me, I could tell,” he said, and the red dye on Cal’s hair leaked out as the rain wet it.

“You came.” Cal smiled up at his dad. “You love me.”

“Of course I do, Cal, of course,” Gray said, trying to blink away the tears. “I’m so sorry, I did this, didn’t I. I never let you outside, I never listened to you.”

“Dad no... they drugged me. I couldn’t see— see the crash.”

“It’s my fault, it’s—” Gray froze as the image of his son flickered and changed. “Cal— Nick?”

——

Nick opened his eyes. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes with the sleeves of Cory’s jacket. He looked over, and Cory was next to him, shirtless and sleeping soundly. Nick looked down and realized that aside from underwear, Cory’s jacket was all he was wearing. He was in Cory’s bedroom.

“What—”

Cory stirred, and Nick jumped. “Ugh, Nick, what time is it?” Cory grumbled, turning around. Nick yelped and stumbled out of bed. “Nick? What’s wrong?” Rich tilted his head. “Come back to bed.”

“You— you’re in Greenfield,” Nick said, looking around. “This isn’t real.”

“I’m not in Greenfield, Nick,” Red said, smiling. “I’ll always be here, with you! Forever,” then it was Rich again, “and ever,” and then Cory, “and ever.”

Nick was shaking. “No— no, I was free— Cory was good— he was good.”

“Was I, Nick?” Cory asked, getting out of bed. “I don’t think I was. And the funny part is, you have no idea how to tell. You’ll never be able to tell.” Rich chuckled. “I’ll always be here, you will always be my victim.”

“No... no no no,” Nick pressed himself to the wall, but it began to push him forward. The walls were closing in on him. “It can’t happen again, this can’t happen again, please god—”

“You’ll never be free,” Cory said, shrugging. “It’s just the way this works. You’ll never be free.”

“I’ll— I’ll never be—”

“You can’t tell.”

“I can’t tell...”

“Even if I am dead, Nick,” Cory began, “you will always be a victim. It will never end.” The walls pushed Nick closer, and Cory put his hands on Nick’s waist. “Now kiss me and take it.”

Nick was sobbing. “You— I thought you were good. I thought you were good,” he cried, cupping Cory’s face in his hands.

Cory grinned. “Kiss me.”

“But—” Nick wiped his eyes. “But why weren’t you?”

Cory’s grin fell. “What.”

Nick looked towards the bed. “Why weren’t you?” he asked, and the walls began to move back out, and he was wearing a proper outfit. “There’s— the way you talk to me. No one I met at the cabin yells at their partner like you did.”

“Stop it—”

“Shark said that someone you love should never put you down,” Nick said. “You put me down, time and time again. And Xavier said that someone you love should never ask you to change. You told me to hide my powers. Cory... ordinary doesn’t suit Nick Lynx.”

“You’re being hysterical,” Cory spat, and Nick backed away from him.

“Barney told me that I should never be afraid of someone I love. I am afraid! If this is some kind of nightmare, shouldn’t that be saying something?” Nick asked, raising his voice. “I’m afraid of you! You and your...” Nick slumped his shoulders. “You and your obsession with me.”

“What you felt was love, Nick,” Cory said, a hand on his chest. “I’m in love with you!”

“Maybe you are, but in the wrong way.”

Cory looked down at the bed. “I’m not like Rich,” he said. Nick took a deep breath.

“Then why are you here? Why do I confuse your face with his?”

Cory looked back at Nick. “You think you’re so fucking smart because you know a few warning signs—”

Nick looked down. “Yeah, I do,” he said, and when he looked up, Cory was gone, bringing the other two with him. He took a step back, and looked around. “What is this? What happened? Red... snapped his fingers, and then I was here. That means... he made us pass out, and have nightmares?” Nick gasped. “The others. Ghetto.”

Without thinking too much, he ran through the door, and stumbled into... Ghetto’s Seaport house? Or, what was left of it. The place was trashed, the paintings flung off the wall, glasses shattered on the ground, the couch torn up. Nick walked further into the house, and nearly got hit by a flying book.

“WHERE ARE THEY!” Ghetto boomed, sprinting into the living room. “They’re gone, I gotta find them!”

“Ghetto? Who’s gone?” Nick asked, but Ghetto walked right past him.

“Jordan and Nick, they’re both gone, oh god, where’d they go, WHO TOOK THEM?” Ghetto was nearly pulling his hair out. Nick covered his mouth.

Ghetto’s worst nightmare: losing track of his loved ones.

“Ghetto,” Nick said, holding out his hand. Ghetto just passed him again. “You’re not gonna lose us— and you’ll always find us if you do!”

“Don’t fucking talk to me, I know your game,” Ghetto hissed, pointing at Nick. “You’re a shapeshifter, huh. Playing dumb fucking tricks on me!”

“No, Ghetto, it’s me!” Nick exclaimed. “It’s Nick, I’m here, I’m safe, at least when I’m with you.”

“You’re a motherfucking liar! Tugging on my heart strings like that, goddamn,” Ghetto said, waving him off. “I gotta find them, god, I don’t know where they are!”

“Ghetto!” Nick grabbed Ghetto’s hand, and Ghetto turned back. “Ghetto, it’s gonna be okay,” Nick said, his voice soft. He stood on his tip toes and kissed him, leaving Ghetto in shock. After a few moments, Ghetto kissed back, holding Nick close. “You don’t need to be stressed about all this,” Nick whispered against Ghetto’s lips. “It’s gonna be okay. I’m right here, and Jordan’s at the cabin.”

Ghetto’s shoulders slumped as a wave of calm enveloped him. “Nick... wait, Nick, you’re— here.” He pulled away. “You’re here— wait, what the fuck happened?”

“I think Red has some kind of nightmare power,” Nick said. “This is your nightmare, I hopped into your nightmare!”

“Nick— I think you can do more than sense others' feelings. I think you can change them, Nick, I think you can make people feel calm!” Ghetto cupped Nick’s face. “You did it back in Seaport, everyone was so calm and happy when you were!”

“Oh my god, you might be right,” Nick said, cupping Ghetto’s face in return. “I have to go to Shelby! Ghetto, can you snap yourself out of this nightmare? I gave you a push, but I think you have to do it yourself!”

“I think so, Nick. Go, go to your sister!” Ghetto pushed Nick towards the door, and Nick opened it and went through it. He found himself in a room he didn’t recognize. It was the room of an early teen, judging by the mix of posters and toys.

Shelby was in bed, curled up into a ball, sobbing. “Nick, please answer me, god, please,” she whimpered. “I just want you to be safe, I didn’t mean for you to cut ties.”

Shelby’s worst nightmare: losing connection with the people she cares about.

Nick ran over and sat on the bed, putting a hand on Shelby’s shoulder. “Shelby, hey. I’m not gonna do that ever again, okay? I’ll never shut you out again, I promise. You’re my sister, I love you,” he said, laying down next to her and hugging her. “You’ll always have a connection with me.”

He could almost feel it this time as his powers took hold, getting Shelby closer to feeling the same way he did. She sat up, and looked at him. “Nick,” she breathed.

——

Red twitched and rubbed the back of his neck. Something was off, something had gone wrong somewhere. He shook his head and scanned over the nightmares, narrowing his eyes when he saw that Nick’s was nothing more than an empty bedroom. “I knew you were fucking something up,” Red spat, marching towards Nick’s unconscious body. “I’ll deal with you—”

Ghetto stirred, and pulled himself to his feet in front of Nick. Red scowled at him. “You aren’t putting your hands on him,” Ghetto said, and Red backed up as Shelby stood up as well.

Red looked between them and figured, fine, if he couldn’t get to Nick in the real world, he’d get to him in a dream.

Ghetto attacked first.

——

After fixing a few other nightmares, Nick opened a door to a bar, walking out into pouring rain. Thunder roared somewhere above, and people were shouting to his left. When he turned, he gasped. It was a car wreck, and right in front of it, Gray was kneeling, cradling someone in his arms. Nick ran over there, looking over at the one in Gray’s arms and doing a double take. It was him.

“I wasn’t there to protect you,” Gray said, running his fingers through Nick’s damp curls. “I wasn’t fast enough, I didn’t take good enough care of you, it’s my fault.”

Gray’s worst nightmare: loved ones dying because of him.

“Gray,” Nick said, putting a hand on Gray’s shoulder. He watched as the body in Gray’s arms shifted from Nick to Xavier to someone closely resembling Cal’s self portraits that Nick had seen. “Oh, god, Gray, no. Your son— Cal— it wasn’t your fault.” He looked up at the car and wondered what happened.

“No it— it is. I raised him so enclosed, he lashed out. He went out with those friends because I never let him do ANYTHING!” Gray pressed his forehead to his son’s. “What the witch said... the day I killed her... it wasn’t a prediction, an assumption, it was a curse. And it’ll keep happening, god, it’ll keep happening.”

“Gray.” Nick fell to his knees. “Cal’s death isn’t your fault, if you keep blaming yourself you’ll never move on. You’ll keep feeling this way, and you shouldn’t! There are just things that are out of your control!”

Gray turned and gave Nick a hug, pulling him close. The body disappeared. “His friends got pissed, that he wouldn’t get high. So they gave him something, they drugged him, and he couldn’t prevent the crash,” Gray said.

“It was out of your control,” Nick said again, and Gray broke down. “You’re a good person, Gray. And I don’t think you’re cursed anymore.”

Gray looked at Nick, moving his curls out of his eyes and smiling at him. “You’re such an intelligent kid. And you’re not my Cal, I think that I kind of pretended you were... but Cal’s gone. You’re not my Cal... you’re my Nick,” he said, and Nick wiped his tears away, laughing.

Nick hugged him, and they cried and laughed together for a few moments.

“You keep doing whatever you’re doing,” Gray said, and Nick nodded.

“Are you gonna wake up? Are you gonna get through... all this?” Nick asked. Gray looked back at the wrecked car.

“I think I just might,” Gray said, pinching Nick’s cheek. “Get outta here, kid.”

Nick stood up, and offered a salute. Gray saluted back, and then Nick ran back towards the bar door.

In the distance, Red watched as Nick left, and Gray turned back to his nightmare. He grunted, and tried to pinpoint where the kid went next.

——

When Gray woke up, he was leaning on Xavier, who was sitting in a corner and holding an unconscious Nick. Ahead of them, Red was fighting with some others who had already woken up. “What’s going on?” Gray asked, and Xavier nodded towards the fight.

“They’re trying to kill Red, Red’s going after Nick in people’s dreams, and Red presumably cannot leave this room or the connection will get worse and it’ll be harder for him to multitask. I’m on Nick duty, you should go help take Red out,” Xavier explained. Gray looked at him.

“You okay?” Gray asked, and Xavier nodded.

“It was a graphic nightmare. I did bad things in it. I’m just glad you’re okay,” Xavier said, and Gray pecked him on the cheek.

“You would never do anything bad, Xavier. I’ll join the fight, you stay safe.”

“I’ll try my best.”

——

AK’s worst nightmare: hurting his friends.

“You have control over your abilities,” Nick said, giving AK an awkward hug. “You won’t hurt anyone else, Omar was a mistake, you’d just been bit by something.”

AK hugged back, not crying, but close, though he’d never admit it. He looked behind Nick, and sighed. “Aw, shit, Red’s in my dream?”

“What.” Nick turned around, and lo and behold there he was, standing on the other side of the old medieval street. He looked angry. AK held open a door for Nick.

“Go, hurry,” AK urged, and Nick shook his head.

“Where else do I go? You were the last one!”

“You got your own head, don’t ya?” AK pointed to the door. “Go, and wake up, before he beats you there!”

Nick nodded, and ran through. He was back in Cory’s room; he shuddered at it.

“You’ve been quite a pest, haven’t you?” Nick whipped around and saw Red sitting on Cory’s desk, one leg crossed over the other. “I don’t appreciate this.”

“Get out of my head,” Nick said, and Red sighed.

“It wasn’t even supposed to come to this. I don’t use this power often, especially with this many people at once. But those idiots just love you too much. Even now they’re fighting for you. Why do people always have to fight for you?” Red’s image flickered, and Nick stepped back, tilting his head. “First my parents, and now all these— buffoons—” Red put two hands on his head. “I can handle that much... but you? You’re so persistent. You are supposed to obey. Be afraid of me!”

“I am afraid!” Nick yelled. “I’m horrified, but I can’t just not help my family because I am afraid.”

“Your family. How funny. Family.” Red got off the desk and took one step before falling at Nick’s feet, flickering even more.

“You can’t be in here and out there for much longer,” Nick whispered, stepping back. “I played cat and mouse with you for so long.”

“I will have you,” Red said, and Nick took a few more steps back. He reached out, and then vanished.

Nick woke up, gasping for air. Xavier put a hand on his back. “Nick, look what you did!” Xavier pointed, and Nick’s eyes widened.

Red was weak. His red eyes were sunken, his features sharper and his skin ghostly pale. He was breathing heavily, his movements sluggish and void of any teleportation as he fought off the group of people determined to kill him. He bared his teeth; they were ugly and sharp. He no longer looked human. He glanced at Nick, temporarily distracted. Gray, in wolf form, sunk his teeth into Red’s leg, jerking him away from Nick. Red hissed and lunged back at Gray, his fingers skinny and his nails sharpened to a point.

Shelby slid in front of Gray and swiped her katana in front of Red. Red shrieked and fell, hiding his arms; she’d sliced both his hands clean off. Xavier covered Nick’s eyes, and Nick was glad he did.

“You BITCH! I WANT HAZEL!” Red screamed, and he brought himself back to his feet, blood flowing now. He focused one last time, and teleported away from Shelby and her blade. Unfortunately, it was right in front of Ghetto. “Fuck.”

Ghetto grinned and kicked Red back down, watching him try to shuffle away. Shelby glanced at her sword, then at Ghetto. “Ghetto,” she said, smirking. “Catch.”

Ghetto turned on his heel. “Wha— OH!” He lifted his hand as Shelby tossed him the katana. He winced a little in anticipation, but he caught it effortlessly by the handle, and it stayed in his hand, almost as if it were saying “just this once.” A buzz of power went through him, and he turned back to Red, who was laughing and scooting away even faster. Ghetto approached him, lifting the katana.

“Shapeshifter— you will regret this— you— YOU WILL REGRET THIS—”

Ghetto chopped Red’s head off, and watched it roll.

——

Gray let Nick take the first shower. He took a long time, processing under the hot water, and no one seemed to mind. He snuck into Cal’s room quickly and got dressed, glancing momentarily at the torn, bloodied beige jacket on the ground. He sighed, picked the jacket up with two fingers, and put it in a laundry basket Gray had put in each room, designated for clothes that would be thrown away.

He knelt by his suitcase and picked out a green jacket instead, zipping it up and repositioning his scarf.

There was a soft knock on his door, and Nick was expecting Gray, Xavier, maybe Ghetto, but when he opened the door, he was shocked to see Sky there, fidgeting. “Hey,” Sky said, rubbing the back of his neck. “There are some people who wanna see you.”

Nick opened the door all the way, and Sky stepped inside, shutting his eyes and spreading his wings. He grimaced, and Nick looked at him weird, at least until four figures appeared at his sides, clear as day. Nick gasped as a girl ran up and hugged him. “You’re amazing,” she said, and she pulled away to look at him. His eyes widened at her.

“Hazel?” Nick asked the girl, who had light brown skin, green eyes, and darker brown hair, similar to him. She looked younger than him, and her clothes looked like they were from sometime in the past.

“That’s me,” she said, cupping Nick’s face in her hands.

“And, um, us,” a quiet male voice said. Nick looked behind Hazel and saw two redheads, who were holding hands. “I’m James, this is Rosaline.” They both seemed awfully nervous.

“Oh... you must be...”

“We’re so sorry, sweetie,” Rosaline said, walking up and taking Nick’s hand in hers. “So so sorry.”

“No— don’t be,” Nick said, and they hugged Nick too. “Don’t be.”

The fourth ghost was Cal. He leaned against the wall, saluting when Nick noticed him, just like Gray. Nick smirked at him as he walked over, his hands in his pockets. “Hey kid, um... you make some good art,” Cal said, holding out a hand. Nick hugged him, instead, and Cal chuckled, hugging back. “Alright, come on, my dad can’t see me or he’ll flip out, Sky told him I was gone already.”

Nick backed away from the ghosts. “I think it’s your time to move on, then?” Sky asked, and Cal nodded. He bowed dramatically and looked at Nick.

“I pass the baton onto you, sir,” he said, giggling. He finally moved on, and Nick waved goodbye. Red’s parents moved on as well, but Hazel glanced at Sky and shook her head.

“I’ll be around just a little longer,” she said. Sky nodded, and folded his wings. She flickered away, and Sky let out a big breath.

“That took a lot of energy,” he sighed, scoffing. “Couldn’t find my dad anywhere, but I think he just... moved on right away. I don’t know what he would’ve said to you anyway.”

Nick held out his arms, and Sky rolled his eyes, accepting the hug.

“Hey, can I steal Nick for a second?” Nick jumped when he saw Uni at the door. Sky broke the hug and nodded, waving bye to Nick and stepping out of the room. Uni took a step inside, avoiding eye contact. “I uh, I’m sorry.” Nick looked up at him. “What I said back there, it wasn’t nice. It was dickish, really, and I was just too angry, to— to actually hear what I was saying.”

Nick held out his hand, and Uni chuckled and took it. “In reality, I— I hate that he hurt you too,” Uni said, placing his free hand on Nick’s head. Nick leaned on Uni, and Uni gave him a quick embrace. “You’re a real good kid. Never change.”

“Thank you, Uni.”

“Give me a call if you ever wanna talk.”

“I will,” Nick smiled.

——

Time passed; a month, to be exact. Gray and Xavier stayed at the cabin, changing up the interior and taking Cal’s old stuff out of storage boxes, designating what to keep and what to sell. Gray snuck Nick some art supplies before he, Yoti, and Shelby left to stay at their aunt’s place for a little while; Nick had some catching up to do.

The Cielos gave Luciano a small funeral back in Queens, and worked out what to do with the money they’d gained. Barney was right; Sky didn’t know how to feel. But his family helped him figure it out, including Jess and Barney, who continued to be the best and worst roommates in the world.

Shark and Annie went back to their classes, and AK went back to hovering around them and bickering about them being so busy all the time. They visited Ghetto and Jordan regularly in Seaport.

Uni went back to the lakeside house, stood on the dock, and wondered what the hell he should do now if Cory and Red were both dead. He and Jin ended up going to Hawaii (yes, in the winter) for a week before they settled back into their work routine.

And then a month after it all, they came back to the cabin and celebrated Christmas, since it had overlapped with their mission and they’d all missed it.

“Do it,” Sky whispered.

“Do it,” Barney repeated. “Do it do it do it—”

“Do it do it do it—”

“Do you wanna go out,” Jess asked, and Shelby stopped in the middle of pouring herself a drink. She looked behind Jess, and Jin and Xavier were both shooting her aggressive thumbs up.

“I could do that,” Shelby said, smirking. “I’m moving back into my apartment after this.”

“Perfect, I could come over,” Jess suggested. “We can have dinner, watch a movie.”

“I like the way you think,” Shelby said. “I’ll get your favorite type of ice cream.”

Sky and Barney high fived, and Jin turned to them. “You guys didn’t do anything, they literally talked to each other on their own,” Jin said, and Barney bounced up and down.

“We did it, we did it!”

“I’m the best wingman, haha, get it!” Sky grinned and threw his arm over Barney’s shoulders. Jin rolled his eyes and looked at Xavier, who was snickering.

Ghetto shook his head at them and walked outside, seeing Nick sitting on a bench alone. Ghetto took a deep breath, and made his way over. “Hey,” he said, and Nick smiled up at him.

“Hey, you! How’ve you been!” Nick scooted over and Ghetto sat down next to him.

“Fine, fine. Jordan actually hid his ears and tail recently, y’know. He’s never done that, we’ve been trying for years,” Ghetto said, and Nick blushed at his proud grin.

“I noticed that! That’s so good!”

“How’s life at the Lynx’s place?” Ghetto asked, and Nick let out a big sigh.

“They’re a lot. They’re all witches, y’know, so they’ve threatened to curse many of you guys multiple times. And, can’t tell them about Gray, ‘cuz, y’know, I told you,” Nick explained, and Ghetto nodded. Gray had told the twins, very nervously, about what happened to their mother. Shelby took longer to come back around than Nick. “But, they’re family. And they really missed me, and, it’s kinda nice, I gotta admit. You should come over.”

“I— don’t know,” Ghetto scoffed, and Nick snickered.

“Just bring Jordan with you, and you’ll be good.”

“Yeah, um... hey, uh, how have you... been, y’know, about... y’know,” Ghetto winced.

“Cory?” Nick asked, and Ghetto nodded. Nick leaned back and sighed. “It’s— better. I’m better. I still get nightmares, I think I always will, but overall I think I’m recovering. Is there a reason you asked?”

“Oh, um, no, don’t worry about it. You take as long as you need,” Ghetto reassured, and Nick blushed again.

“Well, I’ve had a month to think, y’know. I can’t live with my aunt forever, Shelby’s moving back out and I don’t know if I can handle it there without her. But, um, my apartment in Seaport, it’s just so close to... everything. And it has previous baggage with it, too, that I’m ready to leave behind. With that being said, uh, you have a guest room, don’t you?” Nick looked up at Ghetto hopefully.

Ghetto’s face heated up. “I— uh, well— of course. Jordan would be— well damn, he’d be ecstatic! And I of course wouldn’t mind, even though you and your online classes would take up the whole electric bill, and—”

“Ghetto,” Nick interrupted, and Ghetto shut his mouth. “Thank you, for everything.” Nick kissed Ghetto on the cheek. Ghetto froze for a few moments, and shook his head when Nick giggled. He took Nick’s hand in both of his, and they kissed for the fourth time.

“Nick Lynx, you are just incredible,” Ghetto said, pressing his forehead to Nick’s.

“Nick!! Nick!” Jordan ran out and sat right in between Nick and Ghetto. “You’re moving in with us?”

“Did you eavesdrop?” Ghetto asked, and Jordan giggled, leaning on Nick. “You little rascal!”

“I’m so excited,” Jordan said, pulling Nick’s arm over him and starting to purr. Ghetto laughed and threw an arm around them both.

“I’m excited too,” Nick said, letting the love all around him envelop him in warmth.

—THE END—

In a shitty apartment in Greenfield, filled with empty beer bottles and torn up junk food wrappers, a man was making ramen for dinner. He was tall, twenty something, and a redhead, and he’d been stuck in that apartment alone for two years now.

Behind him, there stood a girl that would look eerily familiar, brandishing a katana.


End file.
